Run
by Foxtronic
Summary: Skull has had enough. He's done. He's over this. He's a fucking Cloud, goddamn it. It's time he started acting like one.
1. Chapter 1

_You'll never get it, you'll never learn_  
 _To anticipate these feeling that occur_

Leaving the Arcobaleno manor wasn't emotionally hard in the slightest. The people in there, that so called 'Family' wasn't worth the house they lived in. Narcissists the lot of them. The moment you didn't live up to their expectations you were automatically labeled useless and dumped, at least until the next time they needed your skills.

(The ones he didn't have, obviously. _Tch_.)

The _only_ reason he hadn't left before tonight was because it would have been close to impossible. Not with Aria back with them, exuding a gagging amount of Sky Flames to draw the others in. If he would have disappeared suddenly while she was courting everyone so aggressively, it would have been found out and a man hunt would have been issued. Because they were 'worried,' of _course_.

So very worried about poor, weak Skull who didn't know _anything_ about the Mafia even after being curb stomped into it 40 years previous. But _now_ was the time when he'd need to be taught and guided into the right Family. Now that the Curse was gone, Aria wasn't going to die, and they were all the _Strongest Adults_. Right. Of _course_!

Skull hoisted himself over the bathroom window, dragging his small amount of possessions with him, while he suspiciously looked around. He wouldn't put it past anyone in the mansion to put booby traps around every conceivable exit.

Seeing, hearing and smelling nothing _(You would not **believe** the traps the others had made him test over the years. While kinda useful they had always left him hurt even when he could die, for weeks afterwards. Sometimes… Most of the time he thought he might just hate them for it all. ) _

And before anything else can happen can he just give a giant thank you to god, that they all weren't completely grown yet? Otherwise he'd have never fit through such a small opening. Even better, none of them could follow him through it. He'd always been the smallest besides Viper, so even if they caught him in the midst of his daring escape. They'd end up having to break the wall down to fallow, which would give him precious seconds to book it towards the woods surrounding them.

Shimmying off his stomach with the light canvas bag on his back, Skull slowly and methodically made his way through the trees. The farther away he got from the noise and lights of the house the better he felt. Soon all he could think about was _after_.

He'd finally be able to ditch the monstrosity of a bike Verde had begrudgingly given him in the beginning for his own, he'd be able to take these stupid bike leathers Colonello forced him to wear in the beginning off, no more abuse, no more _death_ , no more having to do _something_ in the Mafia at least once a year to keep the worst of the Family's off his back ( _god he **hated** Mafia island_) and he'd be free. Completely, utterly _free_ for the first time in years.

He would go to ground for however long the others wanted to look for him. They'd get bored eventually when 'Civilian' Skull wasn't found, assuming he'd either died without their 'protection' or he'd gone back to doing whatever he did before.

And he could deal with that. Make a new name, a new alias, then go back to stunt riding. He'd have to start at the bottom again but that was a wonderfully low price to pay to get his life back. With the years he'd spent being the most chased-after Arcobaleno, making fake ids would be ( _He was hilarious. Didn't you know? ...gott he needed some friends. Talking to yourself in your own head probably isn't great._ ) child's play.

By the time Skull had made it through the dense forest, miles away from that poison-honey house, he was almost giddy with excitement. He was _so close_. So _ready_ to put all of this, and all of those awful people behind him.

He never should have allowed himself to hope.  
It was useless. Always. _Always_ useless.

Because there stood Reborn in all his 17 year old glory. So much taller than Skull, so much bigger than Skull and so very cruel _especially_ to Skull. Why did he ever think he'd be able to get away so easily?

Reborn's smile when he looked up from Skulls new custom-made adult-sized bike, the one very much not made by Verde wasn't kind. If a lizard could look both sympathetic and amused then Leon was succeeding wonderfully right then.

"So tell me, _Lackey_." Even trying his hardest Skull knew Reborn had caught his wince at the title, if the satisfied gleam in his void eyes was anything to go by. "This bike is _very_ new. So new in fact, you'd have to have bought it the second it was confirmed we'd all be our correct sizes soon." Reborn ran a finger nail through the leather of the seat and Skull really wanted to cry. He'd been designing that bike since the day they were cursed. Only changing it for the updated technology that came out. It was his kid, his _baby_.

"What's even _more_ curious, is that I distinctly recall Aria requesting we all stay close while our Bonds resettle." Throughout this entire exchange _(Why was this man always so dramatic? Skull was supposed to be the Actor)_ what really unsettled Skull was that Reborn hadn't turned away from him. Not once, just stared straight into his eyes.

No one ever wanted Reborn's undivided attention. Not his targets, not his partners, and definitely not Skull. Even though he seemed to be the one to get it most often.

Then using the inborn strength of his Flame that Skull _knew_ Reborn hated, he taped the beautifully silver top until a sharp crack filled the air. He'd split the chrome dome on top of the bike.

Oh _Бог_ why did this always happen to him, why did Reborn always have to do this to _him_?! What did he even want? Skull was trying to _leave_ , was able to leave at last. They'd all been trying for this outcome for so _damn_ long, what else could he possibly want?

"I'm trying to let you all do that! Aria and the rest of the Guardians are inside! Just tell me what you want, Reborn and I'll give it to you." Skull stepped closer, hands almost shaking in frustration at everything."I'll give you anything if you'll please just... just let me leave.."

If anything, after that impassioned plea to whatever ounce of compassion Reborn may have had in his heart, turned him even more enigmatic.

Reborn's voice was steady if slightly bemused when he replied. "She _could_ _be_ your Sky, Skull. Either way your still one of _my_ fellow elements. You need to be there." That mocking smirk that he was so well known for appeared. "No matter how useless you are, they still want you for whatever reason."

Skull knew what he was about to say wouldn't go over well. It might even get him killed. He could change it. Could just go back to the party and hope like hell someone killed off Aria so that he'd have no reason to stay but…

But he was so _close_.

He couldn't. Wouldn't change what he wanted, what he thought. Not for Reborn who still terrified him no matter what he did. Not for Viper who was the closest thing he had for a friend in this godforsaken place, or for Fon who stood by and watched the abuse, not for Colonello or Lal or Verde. He would do what he'd wanted to do since the day he was forcibly dragged into this Mafia version of an acid trip kicking and screaming, then told to sink or swim, since no one cared what happened to him either way.

"She is **not** my Sky. And I am **not** one of _your_ elements ." Skull would fight if he had to. Now that he was so close he would fight any one of them, _all_ of **_them_** if it came down to it. But he wouldn't go back. Not for anything.

Reborn sighing in annoyance was not what he'd been expecting as a reaction. Maybe some disbelief, anger more than likely. Honestly, he'd been expecting something a little more…. Unanticlimactic? Definitely yelling, _definitely_ a _lot_ more shooting. Not this.. fond(?) exasperation to his impassioned words.

"You are so very lucky I'm in such a good mood, _Lackey_. Otherwise this would have turned out very differently for you." Reborn said after he'd finished huffing out what passed as a laugh for him.

 _(And honestly? Completely unfair he laughed like what whiskey tastes like. All warm and smooth but had a kick even if you were expecting it.)_

"Aria _will_ be your Sky. She will be until the day she dies, you idiot. You've already slightly Harmonized with her because of the pacifiers. It'll be the same with Yuni even with them and her, gone." Reborn rolled his eyes since, in his opinion, Skull should have already figured this out. "No matter how utterly stupid you are, you are _still_ my Element. That comes with certain...responsibilities." Reborn's eyes darkened when looked back towards the motorcycle. "Like knowing what exactly you were planning on doing tonight."

Skull didn't hear any of this. He was getting angry. Very, very angry. No matter what he _said_. What he fucking _did_. These _people_ never listened to him. He couldn't even pick his own Sky now? They'd already done that for him? The Curse was gone and they just expected everything would stay the same?

No.

NO

He would **NOT** be trapped again.

If Reborn was so convinced that he'd already Harmonized with Aria, that he already had Guardian bonds with the others, well he'd just have to _**B** _**R** **_E_** **A** **_K_** them. Он больше не будет в клетке!

Glaring at Reborn with every ounce of outrage, hopelessness, and anger he'd felt since meeting the man, Skull did something he'd never had the courage to do before.

 _He completely released his Flames._

—

When _Skull-Not-Skull_ has been very, very young he had been loved very, very much. He'd been a rare precious thing everyone had told him. The Purple Fire he could make was very, very good. They'd have him do short tests as he'd grown older, stronger, more loved.

But… there had been an accident.

One day, a day like any other he'd decided to take one of his домашних bikes out to ride. He'd done it hundreds of times before. He'd be gone for a couple of hours at most, get back then be yelled out for leaving. Same old same old.

And it had happened like that. Everything had gone like it normally would. He'd been heading back when a car had (Later he'll hope it wasn't his sister _Albertyne's_ car that impacted. _Бог_ _._.) impacted the front of his motorcycle. The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground, screaming inside at how **he didn't want to die!**

He'd woken up to nothing.

No trees, no car, no house and no семьи. His Cloud Flames has destroyed everything. There was nothing left. It was all just….dirt. Dirt and ground and only his screaming into the night for weeks.

He'd died so many times that year. First from starvation, the house had been in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing on all sides. When he'd woken up **_again_** he'd thrown himself off the closest cliff he could find. And he'd woken up _again_.

He'd tried everything. Snakes, bears, hypothermia, Wolves, poison berries. Whatever he could find he tried.

But _nothing worked._

He'd always come back. No matter how much damage he took, how much he begged his Flames to please just **stop** , nothing worked.

He'd met Checker Face not long after.

But he never released his Flames fully ever again. Not after destroying his own Territory.

—

Propagating the trees around him into iron, Skull made a cocoon around himself. It wouldn't keep Reborn out for long but it would have to be good enough.

He'd never had to look inside himself before, not in the way Fon had tried to 'teach' him, to find his Flames and take control. They'd always done exactly what he'd wanted them to do. But to hunt for these so-called 'Bonds' he'd have to try it Fons way.

They couldn't be _that_ hard to find. He'd have to be quick though as Reborn had already started shooting at his little hideaway.

He was right. It was ridiculously easy to find when he tried. The first one he came across was the Sky. It was sticky sweet like taffy, and it felt like when you chewed candy with a cavity. A small constant ache every time. It was also the thinnest of the Bonds around his heart.

They looked like light orange razor wire, cutting into him in the name of 'compassion.' Skull yanked at it, his hand bleeding purple flames to try and shore up the damage the Sky had done to him unintentionally. A faint scream from the vague direction of the house proved that he was doing this correctly.

It also spurned Reborn into some harder hits, from normal bullets to his famous Chaos shot. It would be enough. _He would not be caged again._

After the Sky bond the others were even easier to find. All doing some type of harm to his Flames. Viper was using his almost unlimited amount of Cloud Flames to help shore up their own Mist. That scream hurt his heart the tiniest bit but he would not falter.

( _Even if The Mist shielded him from some dangers, It wasn't enough. Not nearly what it should between Guardians. Between friends )_

Reborn had to be getting annoyed by now. Skull had never gone up against him before. Not once. Not like this.

Rain was even easier. It was as tough as an old boot but tearing at it until his hands were covered in blisters was worth it to see the Flames try to cling on. To something, anything. Him, the torn protection he'd offered before, Skulls Flames. Whatever it was they tried to stay, to cling. But thankfully they faded away eventually. Colonello's scream was two folded, when Lal joined in.

"-Skull, you _Sfigato_! Open a damn door! _Cranio_! _Teschio maledizione, ti ucciderò!_ You _Rompicoglioni-"_

 _(He knew Colonello cared a lot about him. Like a little brother almost. But that did not give him the right to do whatever he wanted, however he wanted. Skull was a person and he would not stand for it. Not anymore.)_

Fon's Flame fought back. They'd have to know what was happening by now. He'd seen what happened to broken bonds. They all had at one time or another. Normally the Breakee would be incapacitated for however strong the bond had been for them. By Skulls quick estimate he had minutes, if that, to rip all of them out before the first ones recovered enough to come investigate.

 _( He eventually had to overpower them completely. He didn't have time for the drawn out fight Skull knew Fon was aiming for. He needed to go now. Needed to get to Reborn. He wouldn't apologize for not giving Fon what he wanted. The man was just like his nephew, a giant hypocrite. But Skull wasn't Tsuna. He would not Forgive and Forget. He wasn't a Sky. )_

"- _Lo giuro su Dio Teschio, se stai facendo quello che penso che stai facendo, non ti lascerò mai andare. Come osi. Come osi! Sei nostro!-_ "

Reborn had gone into speaking entirely in italien. That wasn't good. That wasn't good at _all_. Skull tried really hard to focus on the two remaining bonds before he was horribly killed by Reborn's passionate wanting to, probably(?) kill him.

(He'd never learned italian, ok?! He already heard so much _shit_ from the man in English he'd prefer not having to hear it in the mans native language, alright?)

Verde was yanked out so quickly he barely felt anything other than a sting. They'd never been close, other then when the man had force-fed him poison and chemicals to test their reaction. He'd feel nothing if that fucker died.

Nothing _!_

 _( None of this is what Checker Face had promised him. He was supposed to have a new family. Not a monster of a man who wanted to test his 'immortality.'_

 _He knew none of them believed him, but to go so far as to poison him? To kill him, over and over again just because he didn't believe?_

 _No. That man was not part of his Family._

 _Not that Lightning. )_

The banging from outside had stopped. With that last screech from the house Reborn had gone quiet. Skull still knew he was there. With how close he was to his own Flames right now, he could feel where his and Reborn's touched. He hated how even as his Flames tried to escape the mans, Reborn's clung on. Why couldn't he just leave him alone?

Taking a deep breath with half a mind still on untangling Reborn from himself, Skull lowered the tree cocoon. Reborn as standing there, but he'd known that. His hair was a mess, Leon nowhere in site. Skull could see his prized fedora crumbled up a ways away from them, like he'd thrown it in frustration. Reborn's eyes pinned him in place, hawk yellow.

"Change it back, _череп_." Reborn's voice was a low, aggressive snarl.

Skull felt as if he'd had the air knocked out of him. They'd _promised_. All of them. They'd promised to never use their dead names after the Fated Day.

"I won't be trapped again, _Renato_." If Reborn, the bastard, wanted to play rough well Skull knew all of his sore spots too.

"That's not what this is you _cazzo_!" He roared.

"That's exactly what this is!" Skull screamed back. He'd been bottling this all up for so long. He couldn't stop. All he'd wanted to do was leave. To never see these people again and they had to make it worse! They always made **_everything_** worse!

"What where you going to do, Reborn? When I told you I was leaving? You knew exactly what that motorcycle meant when you saw it! And you still have the _чертов_ nerve to act like you _weren't_ going to intimidate me back into that god-forsaken house?!"

Reborn looked taken aback. His mouth hung open unattractively and Skull had never felt such viciousness inside himself. If this is what normal Clouds felt like all the time he'd finally understood why they did what they did. This type of power was intoxicating.

"I won't go back! No matter what you do, no matter how much you hurt me, we will never be Family. I would rather die a thousand more deaths than spend anymore time thinking about any of you!" Skull screeched as loudly as he could. He hoped they heard! He hoped they all heard!

"And you.." Skull stalked up towards a tensely held Reborn. The look in his eyes was one he'd never seen there before. It could have even been respect, but it was far too late. "You can go suck a _dick_."

Skull _**r** i **p** p **e** d_ the last bond into shreds, marveling at how it took Reborn down hard. He didn't scream, which Skull wasn't very disappointed about. No matter how much he'd wanted to hate the man, he still respected him. Hate the Player not the Game as the saying went.

But damn did he look good down on his knees.

Skull took a fist full of Reborn's hair and jerked his head up. The angle was uncomfortable, he'd know since Reborn had put him in this exact same position more then once, but he didn't wince. His eyes were shocked for some reason. As shocked as Skull had ever seen the great Reborn be.

And he thought he was pretty sure why that was.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't break ours? Did you think I'd keep _you_ after getting rid of all the others? Did you really think you were _special_?"

As much as Skull wanted to be mocking in this moment. To feel as powerful as he did minutes ago when they'd been screaming at each other, the broken bonds where getting to him to. All he wanted to do was lay down and cry in the dark for a few hours. But this had to be said.

"You're just a man, _Re-na-to_. You're a strong man. The strongest I've ever known, but you're not as almighty as you want to be. You didn't see this coming, did you?"

 _Бог_ , he was tired.

Skull sighed deeply and let go of Reborn's hair, petting it into place gently. He was done. Everything that needed to be said right then had been. He'd never see any of them again.

This was the end.

Turning towards his bike Skull was stopped short by his right ankle refusing to move. Looking down he stared at the long white fingers wrapped around it. He could feel Sun Flames in that hand and it was only getting hotter. Trying to jerk his ankle out of the hand did nothing, and it was _still_ getting hotter!

When he bent down Skull was distracted from the pain for a split second, which was all it took for their eyes to connect before Reborn spoke. "I'll.. find you. So don't-" Reborn had to stop to breath through the horrible pain that had to be in his chest for a moment but his black eyes never left Skulls. "Don't go thinking… you can... escape me."

Skull wretched his ankle away from the fallen Sun and ran towards his bike, he had to leave. Now. He had to leave _now_.

 _Before that stupid man made him cry anymore._

" ** _SKULL_**!"

 _(How dare he)_

—

Skull found the scarred over burn on his ankle four days after he'd escaped the others. He'd been in the shower after checking into a shady motel. The burn was shiny and white, it looked _exactly_ like Reborn's handprint. Just healed over for years instead of just a couple of days.

That asshole had to have the last fucking word didn't he? Even when he wasn't there! He'd used his fucking Sun Flames to mark him!

He really shouldn't be laughing at how dramatically petty it was though. No healthy person would be. But.. well… there was a reason he'd lasted as an Arcobaleno despite how much the others hadn't wanted him to in the beginning.

One that had nothing to do with his inability to die.

 _You'll never grasp it, never try to  
And now I'm forced to break these bonds with you_

* * *

 **Translation _s._**

 _( **Russian**_ _) Бог_ **-** God

 _( **Russian** ) Он больше не будет в клетке! **-**_ He would not be caged again!

 _( **Russian**_ _) домашних **-**_ Home 

_(_ **Russian** _) семьи_ _ **-** _Family

 _( **Italian** ) Sfigato **-**_ Loser

 _( **Italian** ) Cranio! Teschio maledizione, ti ucciderò!_ **-** Skull! Damn it Skull, I'm going to kill you!

 _( **Italian** ) Rompicoglioni_ **-** pain in the ass!

 _( **Italian** ) Lo giuro su Dio Teschio, se stai facendo quello che penso che stai facendo, non ti lascerò mai andare. Come osi. Come osi! Sei nostro! **-**_ I swear to God Skull, if you're doing what I think you're doing, I'll never let you go. How dare you. How dare you! You're ours!

( **Russian** ) _Череп_ **-** Cherep **-** Skull

 _( **Italian** ) Cazzo_ **-** Prick

 _( **Russian** ) чертов **-** _Fucking


	2. Chapter 2

_Why won't you get away from me?_  
 _Leeched on my skin like a bad disease._

 _Figured when I left, you'd let me be_  
 _Instead you follow like a lovesick puppy._

* * *

Reborn had always watched Skull.

From the moment they'd been introduced that fateful day so long ago, Skull had been in the corner of his perception. He'd find himself watching the stuntman, never intentionally, but it happened so often that the others begin to take notice of his wandering attention. It'd never been brought up and Skull hadn't seemed to notice it himself, despite how often it happened. So nothing really came of it.

But it made no _sense_.

Reborn was the Best of the Best. He'd crawled and murdered his way up the treacherous mountain that was the Mafia to be the best. He'd fought for everything he'd ever wanted, so to be invited to the _I Prescelti Sette_ , something he'd only only ever heard rumors about?

It was a dream come true. It quieted the soft voice of doubt in his head that always tried to remind him he wasn't anything special, just some gutter rat playing dress up, waiting for someone to see what he actually was and throw him out.

 _(Not that they could throw him out, he'd kill them all before the thought ever crossed their minds but logic never seemed to work on that voice. Childhood trauma was irrational that way)_

Finding out they'd admitted a mostly catatonic _civilian **Cloud**_ of all things, had been a slap in the face.

The teen had appeared with Checker Face weeks after the first meeting had taken place, unmoving against all their very vocal protests. He'd sat there with unseeing eyes the color of his flames and said nothing. Hours went by as they argued at Checker Face, the man seemingly amused by them all, before he'd simply left them there mid a one-sided argument from Viper on how they had _not_ been paid to be a babysitter.

Leaving the Cloud who hadn't made a move since he'd been stashed in a corner chair. He'd looked.. broken, Reborn remembers thinking at the time. Small for a teenage boy, eyes cloudy and unresponsive. His hair had been ridiculous even for Flame actives. Candy colored purple and too long for any self-respecting man who wasn't Fon.

They hadn't known he was a civilian at that point. Hadn't known anything about him yet, only that the Cloud they'd been going on missions with suddenly wasn't good enough and this kid had taken his place. It'd taken a solid thump by Luce to stop Verde who'd been about to try and 'wake' the new Cloud up, before they'd all focused back in on what exactly they were supposed to do.

He hadn't cared at the time, just another loser in the long line behind him but Luce had been interesting to watch. She'd seemed uncertain almost. Wavering in her decisions.

 _(They hadn't found out until it was all over and they had been betrayed, that Luce couldn't See, Skull._

 _Ever._

 _He was invisible to her no matter how hard she searched for him. It didn't matter if the vision was what they were going to have for dinner the next day, or if it was about a mission they needed to complete, Skull wasn't there._

 _But..._

 _Skull made Luce interact more with the rest of them. Be more present in the now, then in a future they couldn't see._

 _Since she never knew what he'd do, she had to be more attentive if for no other reason then to stop the others from going to far._ _She told them, later, it had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. Having to be there with them, interact with them in a way she hadn't ever planned to, and then trick them?_ _She'd hated Skull for forcing her to know them, love them, for a very long time. It's why, she'd confessed, she'd allowed them all to treat him so very badly for so long._ _Because it was so much easier to sacrifice people you don't care about to death, then it was to do it to people you love.)_

She'd walked towards him slowly, the rest of them sprawled out around the room like annoyed cats and hesitated before touching him. None of them had held their breath, they were to good for that. But a healthy respect for Clouds was the opposite of stupid and if this kid had replaced the positively prickly Cloud they'd had before… well it was only smart to be wary.

Luce's hand had hovered uncertainty above the kids shoulder for a few moments before softly clasping it. They all stilled, their focus honed in on where the Sky of their group was taking her life in her own hands.

Nothing happened for a few seconds and they all wound down from the tension in the room minutely. Luce herself had slowly relaxed when the cloud had done nothing to react to her presumption in touching him. Much more confidently she brought up her other hand to under his chin, trying to tilt his head up so she could hopefully get a good look at his pale face, maybe try and find out what his name was.

But the Cloud, apparently, had other ideas.

The moment Luce's hand had reached for his neck the Cloud jerked back out of her reach. Toppling over the chair he'd been pushed into, he crab walked /almost/ along the ground. At first he'd kept those unique eyes locked on Luce, not seeming to notice how very quiet the room had turned after the crash of the chair meeting the floor.

He'd scrambled away running up against Fon's legs.

Reborn had seen a lot in his time. He's seen terror in the face of death, and he'd seen Fon _be_ that face of death. But he'd never seen someone who so obviously had no idea what was going on scream so melodramatically after looking up into Fon's _face_.

The kid had screamed like he'd seen the grim reaper himself heading straight for him, with every fear he'd ever had following in its wake.

It was _hilarious_.

Fon's offended expression just made it all the more priceless. Seeing how the man prided himself on being different then the entity of his very Cloudy family, that this kid took one look at his face and screamed in horror took everything that was Fon and made it _Hibari_.

" _Who the fuck are you all?!"_

Reborn arched an eyebrow, "You don't know?" The kid looked over towards him, those absurd eyes wide with surprise. They only widened further when he took in the man who'd spoken.

Reborn puffed up subtly at the glance over he got from the kid, Fon seemingly forgotten for the moment. He did cut a very impressive figure so it was it was only natural for the Cloud to turn speechless.

"Are you seriously wearing a fedora? I thought only old people wore those anymore.." the Cloud blurted out amazed.

Reborn could feel his spine straighten and his teeth grit, ' _this fucking kid!_ ' He glared at the cowering Cloud.

Beside him, he could hear Verde's snickers. The man having also insulted his hat the moment they met, he'd only survived because they needed that idiot savant of a scientist.

They could probably get another Cloud. They'd already gone through one. What was one more? Third time's the charm after all.

Advancing towards the cloud Reborn savored the panic that appeared in his eyes at the sight of the gun. "Viper, go find Checker Face. Tell him we need another Cloud."

Reborn smiled darkly as he cocked the gun, "The one he gave us had an _accident_."

The kid had ducked under Fon's legs by this point to hide behind the exasperated Storm.

But he couldn't shut his mouth to save his life apparently, "You know you'd be a lot scarier if your shirt wasn't _sunshine yellow_."

Reborn twitched as Fon stared at him from where he was being used as a shield. The bastard was probably laughing.

"Please. Come out and tell me all about what you think of my wardrobe. I promise to listen intently before I kill you." he said completely un-sincerely.

"For some reason, that has everything to do with the giant cloud of death you radiate, I don't believe you." was the smartass reply.

"That's to bad. I'm a very forgiving person though so I'll forgive you if you move. Out. From. Behind. Fon."

"Again. For some strange reason I feel that's a giant ass lie."

" _Strange. Come here."_

"Fuck off!"

Reborn annoyed enough at getting talked back to from some no-name Cloud from some no-name Family he'd probably never heard of, lunged at him and Fon.

Fon clearly not expecting this jumped straight up to avoid the irritated Sun. Leaving the new Cloud to his fate as he screeched about betrayal and tumbled ass over first with Reborn falling over after him.

•x•

It had taken all of them to pry Reborn off the Cloud long enough to learn his name, that he had no idea who any of them were, that he had no idea what Flames were and that he _wasn't Mafia in the slightest._

After that little tidbit of a bombshell he'd proceeded to insult Reborn's hat _again_ , call Viper a scrooge after they'd refused to help him against Reborn, shied away from being anywhere _near_ Verde for unknown reasons despite all their demands of why, had ripped Fon's _changshan_ on his way down dodging Reborn's grasping hands, and finally he'd broken Luce's entire _table_ from being thrown into it by Reborn ( _Skull had argued viciously that it was Reborn's fault the table broke not his!)_ and still couldn't SHUT UP.

That first day started the downward spiral of how Skull's life in the Mafia, and in the group known as the Arcobaleno, would go for the next 30 years.

It also started his _slight_ obsession with watching Skull. Because that day, before any of them had talked to Skull, before he'd opened his mouth and derailed all of their attention, there'd been a look in his eyes that Reborn had recognized.

He hadn't known what it was, not really.

But he'd seen it.

And he'd never been able to forget that look when Skull turned into the Great Skull-Sama. Or when Colonello came and that _something_ traveled further and further back.

Reborn never stopped watching.

* * *

 ** _DON'T YOU SEE? I MAKE YOU WEAK_. **  
_Stumbling around trying your damnedest just to find me._

 _Oh, I'll be the death of you  
_ _If you wish to see this through_ _._

* * *

He'd seen it again their first time out together as a group with Skull.

It wasn't a mission thank god, even he wasn't sure if he'd be able to make sure the kid survived with no prior training with the missions they went on. Thankfully, for Luce's peace of mind at least, their first time out together is at a semi-formal ball.

They'd ( _and by they he means everyone but him_ ) had to force Skull into a tuxedo. It had taken too much time and money according to Viper, Reborn's humble gun skills, and a very pouty Skull before they'd been able to stuff him into the limo with no simple way to escape.

Reborn had been on his phone the first time it'd happened, ignoring the conversation around him until a snort from the seat opposite his in the limo caught his attention. Looking up he caught the surprisingly amused eyes of Skull.

Glancing him over Reborn was impressed to see Skull looked more like a Mafia Prince then he had since they met. One of his long legs was crossed over the other at the knee, he had a palm held under his chin as he looked over their companions. Those unique eyes flicked from one person to the other with a cynical light in them before looking back towards Reborn.

Skull blinked slowly, almost languidly before he looked away again back towards the window.

But Reborn couldn't get that look out of his mind, it was so _different_ then everything Skull had shown them since they'd met.

"Find something humorous, Skull?" He made sure to keep his voice low, so the others didn't turn their attention to them.

Skull glanced back towards him without turning his head, a small, dare he say, smirk twisting his lips into an attractive expression.

"Nothing much really. " Skull murmured back.

"Oh? Then what has that look on your face?" He inquired.

Skull covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile before nodding towards Verde.

Reborn turned just slightly, looking like nothing more than a reposition for comfort towards whoever might be looking, and casually looked towards Verde.

Who had over 20 (if he was counting them all correctly and he was) syringes hidden under his jacket. Sighing Reborn turned back towards the window and met amused purple eyes in the reflection.

"And you all wonder why I refuse to be alone with him." was the only response he got.

They share no more words after that, only an eye roll from Reborn and a snicker from Skull.

 _He doesn't see Skull for almost the entirety of the rest of the night. He's not looking, of course. It's just a casual acknowledgment towards one of his fellows not being in the open, but it is curious. How can someone as loud and outrageous as Skull just fade into the crush of bodies surrounding them?_

 _It's uncanny how long it takes for Reborn to spot Skull. He's in the chandelier, high above the rest of the rabble watching over them all like some kind of Trickster god. All long limbs and impossible colors. Their eyes met and Reborn raises a glass towards the Cloud, before turning and leaving out the back._

 _His heart is racing wildly and he can't understand why._

 _He keeps out of sight for the rest of the evening much to the disappointment of the young Ladies and Gentlemen of the Mafia ball, but he never stops watching where the Cloud lingers.._

* * *

 ** _DON'T YOU SEE? YOU MAKE ME WEAK._**  
 _Distracted from my own agenda with reality._

 _oh, you'll be the death of me._  
 _Yes, you'll be the death of me.._

* * *

Months later he's cursing himself to hell and back, wondering why he ever thought that Cloud had anything different about him _at all_.

He's just come back from saving that stupid, ignorant _Civilian_ again, when he can't take his mouth anymore.

He'd been running it constantly since he'd seen Reborn, it seemed like every thought that ran though the kids head was thrown back up for no other reason then to hear himself talk. Everything from where they kept him, to who he thought their buyer was, why they targeted him to begin with, that he thinks their money laundering scheme was horrible inept and that they'd only caught him because he'd _wanted_ to be caught.

That last part is the final straw for Reborn.

He whips around towards Skull, dark fire in his eyes and backhands the cloud as hard as he can. The kid goes flying to the ground lip already dripping blood from Reborn's conscious use of Flames and stares up at him.

For a split second he can see that same look that he _still can't describe_ enter Skulls eyes before it's banked down as deep as it can go. Reborn feels a twitch of _something_ in his chest when he looms over Skull, the other cowering before him but ignores it.

It's an insult to their name that this civilian Cloud is one of them. And he has no problem telling him as much.

"You will be _silent_."

Skulls mouth snaps shut before he can say anything. He starts pushing himself back frantically when Reborn stalks towards him.

"I don't know what you did to get here, I don't _care_ what you held over Checker Faces head that he'd allow someone like you in but- **LISTEN TO ME**." He snarled when Skulls face turned mulish at the end.

"I-" grabbing that that stupid hair Reborn slammed him face first against the ground. "Don't-" he slammed him against the ground again, "Care-!" Slamming down one last time he paused to hear nothing. Skull wasn't trying to weakly protest anymore.

Turning the idiot Cloud over he looked at the bloody face and god be damned _defying_ eyes, and sneered. "But if you make us have to save your sorry life again?" Reborn hunched over Skull, face inches away from the silent Cloud. "I will leave you to **_die_**. Do you understand?"

The Cloud said nothing just looked at him with those eyes. The ones he'd seen the night he'd been dropped in their laps, in the limo, in a thousand other times and nodded.

Stepping away from the prone body Reborn turned away and fixed his sleeves to hide his shaking hands. Something had just happened there. He didn't know what but _something_ had irrevocably changed between them that night.

The walk back to their vehicles was silent.

Skull instead of getting into Reborn's car to head back to the manor as was usual after one of his kidnappings, quietly turned towards his motorcycle and got on it. Placing his cracked helmet on he turned the gas a couple times to see if it still worked and took off without a word.

It would be months before Reborn saw their Cloud again, covered in white pasty makeup and scars he _knows_ he has from getting his face smashed into the ground by him, and almost 30 years before he saw that look in his eyes turned towards him once more.

The others saw it sometimes, he knew. Fon when they drank tea together in the mornings, Lal when they went to the practice arena together. Luce saw it the least of them all besides Verde, who was in last place for only seeing it the once. Viper saw it the most after himself. Or he'd used to be the one who saw it the most, the one who looked for it.

But after that night..

After that night he never saw it again until the Curse was broken and he was watching Skulls back as he left like the devil was on his heels.

But gods how he'd missed it.

* * *

 _Now you're standing in front of me_  
 _And like a hawk I am on you maliciously._

 _You cry out to remember the beginning_  
 _When we hurt each other's hearts for a living,_

* * *

It's a slow fire that burns in Reborn as he makes his way back to the mansion. He knows what's waiting for him there. A room full of powerful people who'll want to know just what the fuck had happened to their Cloud.

But it's the empty place where Skulls bond had been, one he hadn't even really felt was there until it simply _wasn't_ anymore, that tore at his mind. And it _ached_.

When Luce has broken their bonds it hadn't felt like this. They had all known, every last one of them, that something was going to happen. You don't just get a Sky dropped on you for being powerful. That wasn't how it worked.

So they had all known it was some kind of trap, they just hadn't known it would be even more supernaturally insane then the Flame Mafia. Turning into babies hadn't been a possibility at the time.

Death? They could try. Imprisonment? Easily escaped. Forced Harmonization? Ridiculous.

The gist was they'd all held something back from 'Harmonizing' with Luce. She'd never noticed but, well, without her Visions Luce wasn't the most… present person. She had her own special brand of arrogance they'd all banked on.

Where Luce's broken Bond had felt like someone had cut off some skin, easily healed if painful due to all the nerve endings. Skull's Bond on the other hand was.. almost shredded.

Like instead of using scissors to cut it he'd somehow taken it by the root and _pulled_ until some part in the middle _snapped_ off in uneven, jagged strips. Leaving some parts so short they were raw while others moved in the provincial breeze.

He'd always known Skulls use of his Flames were unconventional by Mafia standards but this was just unnatural.

Reborn stumbled against a tree letting himself rest for a few moments before pushing on. With Skull gone he needed to be with his other Elements. With all of them together it might soothe the edges enough they could figure out what the hell just happened and what they were going to do.

Falling to one knee his mind flashes back to the satisfied smirk Skull had (probably) unknowingly worn when he'd been on his knees in front of him. He'd never let anyone touch his hair the way Skull had minutes ago. Never been on the receiving end of one of his favorite humiliating positions, one he'd put Skull in often.

He could feel the blood rushing to his face just from the memory alone. It was horrid. He hadn't blushed since he'd been a child, he'd been the seducer since they'd learned what that fucking word _meant_! But the Lacky  
somehow gets to him in _that_ position and he can't cope?

No.

He was **Reborn**. He would not let that idiot get away with treating him like that.

Maybe he wanted Skull. He could deal with that. He knew himself well enough to know when denial wasn't gonna cut it, and after 40 years of careful denial to come crashing down by a little hair pulling? From Skull of all people?

 _ **No**_.

Reborn smiled grimly to himself as the door to the mansion finally came into view.

No, if Skull wanted to _finally_ play after so long of acting like there wasn't anything between them, then Reborn would oblige him. But there was no way in _hell_ he'd be winning at the end of it all.

Reborn had a Cloud he'd wanted for a very long time to catch.

* * *

 _Oh, Don't you get it?_  
 _Why can't you learn?_ _  
I have these feelings that won't stop til you're hurt,_

 _Please try to grasp it_  
 _I'm feelin too_  
 _Because I realize I can't live without you._


	3. Chapter 3

_You were always the one who understood, what it felt to be alone…_

 _So I became the Sun to your Moon,_ _to prove I could be there for you._

* * *

Reborn woke up back into the real world with a silent jerk. He'd always hated Mist tricks, dreamwalking most of all. But-

He couldn't help the smirk that filled his face at the thought of just what he'd accomplished thanks to said Mist trick.

If he'd known Skull would respond so very _sweetly,_ he'd have pushed this weeks ago.

— _Skulls long limbs spread up against the wall Reborn had pinned him to, his head canted to the side as far as it would go to look away._

 _His face was free of makeup in the dream world for once, completely bare in a way Reborn hadn't seen in years. Vulnerable._

 _"Why do you ignore me, Bellissima? Why do you avoid my eyes?" Reborn ran one large hand up Skulls side making the other shiver, before pulling harshly on his chin. "You know I can't stand it when you look away from me."_

 _Skulls eyes were closed in defiance against Reborn's subtle demand. His body caught between straining to and away from the Sun, his mouth turned down in annoyance._

 _It was very cute._

 _"I'm going to find you bello, you know I will." Reborn pushed closer still, knee sliding up and between Skulls arched thighs drawing out a squawk of surprise from the suddenly straining up man. He could feel how very 'not interested' the other was. "You can make this so much easier for yourself by just_ ** _telling me where you are_ **_."_

 _'The outrage in his eyes is beyond gorgeous.' Reborn couldn't help but think when those pretty, caustic purple flew open to spit fire at him._

 _"Get off!" Skull yelped, balanced on his tiptoes to escape Reborns slowly upward moving leg._

 _"Are you sure, Cuore mio? You seems very… comfortable stretched out on my knee." Reborn ran his teeth along Skulls chest, shirt disappearing with but a thought._

 _Skulls face burst into color, turning a very fetching shade of peach. "T-that's a completely normal reaction for a guy! I'd like to see what you'd do i-in.. this.. Uh-" Skull's voice petered out into a whine._

 _Reborn smirked around the nipple in his mouth, teeth closing to pinch at it again delighting in the jerk of Skulls hips against his thigh. He couldn't speak right then unfortunately, but he could show Skull exactly what he'd get if he told Reborn where he was._

 _Running his clever tongue along the indents he'd made (And what a pretty, almost forgotten sound Skull had made from that, Reborn would have to remember it for later. This entire situation brought all their 'training' into a new light.) around Skulls abused nipple. He looked up while trailing hard sucking bites along Skulls chest._

 _The Cloud's face was turned down towards Reborn eyes hazy in disbelief and lust that this was all actually happening, that Reborn was actually trying to ravish him. He had his bottom lip caught between his teeth to try and block any sound from escaping. But little huffs and hitches could be heard when Reborn did something particularly creative with his tongue._

 _But that just wouldn't do. Reborn would see him debauched and ravaged, he'd show Skull just what he was running from._

 _Hitching his knee up even higher, Reborn heard the cut off high pitched whine Skull made. He trailed those biting marks upwards stopping only when he was eye to eye with Skull. Using the hand not occupied with holding both of Skulls wrists against the wall behind him, Reborn pulled that abused lower lip out from between Skulls teeth._

 _"Normal? I'm flattered you think everyone would be this easily turned on by me." Reborn started darkly. "Do you think Colonello would let me do this to him? All stretched out like a treat, waiting for whatever I want?"_

 _Skull jerked against Reborn's hold for the first time, hazy lust starting to overwhelm his mind. Reborn grinned internally at the sight._

 _"Or maybe Fon. Do you think Fon would let me bite him, leave bruises for everyone to see and judge the next day?" He crooned softly. "What about Viper? Would they be turned on if I called them Моя шлюха like you are?"_

 _Skulls breath halted at the words, locking eyes with Reborn's own merciless black ones, speechless._

 _"Did you think I didn't know what you'd said to me all those years ago? What you wanted me to do to you, what you've wanted me to call you?" He asked. "Of course I knew."_

 _Reborn's free hand ruthlessly hitched one of Skulls legs up along his waist, giving him enough room to push forward against Skulls trapped erection. Skull's reaction was everything he'd ever dreamed of._

 _Skull almost yowled at the first contact, dream logic was wonderful like that. If Reborn wanted to he could make Skull cum right then, just from that. And he was tempted to, so very tempted to watch Skulls face when he realized what had happened and that he came like an untouched teenager on Reborn's thigh._

 _But watching Skull writhe around like a cat in heat as Reborn shoved against him over and over again, separated only by Reborn's slacks and Skulls leather pants, was a close second._

 _"But you wanted to play at ignoring it. Wanted nothing to do with me." Reborn jerked skulls other leg around his waist taking all of the smaller man's weight on himself, crushing him against the wall. "I was willing to wait it out. I'm a patient man-"_

 _"What!?" Skull screeched incredulously. Unable to think or say much else as occupied as he was. The doubt he could hear in Skulls voice on Reborn's supposed 'Patience' wasn't appreciated. At all._

 _"But not anymore." Reborn bite savagely into Skulls shoulder in revenge for that doubt, ignoring the scream of pleasure/pain above him. "I'll chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to, Skull. You'll never be rid of me."_

 _The next thing Reborn knows is a foot to his chest kicking him away. It catches him by surprise enough that he wasn't expecting it. Looking up makes him catch his breath in awe._

 _Skulls eyes were incensed purple, Rage sparked around them like purple lightning, his hair lifting with the sparks. His shirt was still gone but the love bites Reborn had left gave Skull a wild appearance. He looked untamed and feral. Every bit the Cloud he'd always been._

 _Reborn had never been more attracted to someone in his life._

 _"You fucking, arrogant,_ **_bastard._ **_" Skull seethed._

 _The area around them which had been a calm shade of pinkish purple begin to change. Red hues and black streaks flew through the air. The fuzzy ground under them shook, tearing apart the dreamscape._

 _"You think just because I find you hot I'd let you do whatever you want?" Skulls hands were fisted at his side shaking. "You think just because I said somethings years ago-" Skull had to stop to take a trembling breath._

 _Eyeing the distance between them Reborn tried to approach slightly, sliding around to Skulls side and towards him. Skull bared his teeth with a snarl at the movement. Reborn paused thoughtfully, though all he wanted to do was pounce._

 _Skull as he was right now would be an.. Interesting fight. (Oh wasn't that a thought? Skull in a rage, shirtless and bloody. Tearing through anything in his way.)_

 _"I hate you." Skull bite out. "I hate you, I fucking hate you! For years I tried to be what you all wanted me to be. I was the weakest, I was the fucking_ ** _Lackey_ **_, I was the punching bag and the Loser, the leftover Arcobaleno and the goddamn freak!"_

 _Skull ran shaking hands through his hair. The area around them broke further, holding on by a thread of thought. It wouldn't be long before they had nothing to stand on but vague intentions of floor. It was now a battle of Vipers Mist and Skulls Cloud._

 _Skull stilled looking straight up at the sky, hands dragging out of his hair to his face. Everything was quiet for a moment, the still night before a tornado ripped through._

 _Reborn felt.. cautious. Even with everything he hadn't expected- this. Skull hadn't been so close to what he once was in so long he'd, not forgotten, but-_

 _"If you chase me Reborn, you won't like what you find." Skull stated simply, staring into Reborn's eyes with that strange look he hadn't seen in so long. "If you find me at all."_

 _Caught as he was in the purple depths, Reborn felt that he was closer to recognizing what it was he'd seen so long ago looking into Skulls eyes that first time._

 _Power. Isolation and power. He was looking into the face of a person who had nothing left to give, nothing left to want. Who was so very alone they wanted nothing but the absolution that came with freedom. Enough that they'd run from everything._

 _Skull held a singular type of power. Just as much as any one of them did. Reborn didn't know why he'd kept it to himself for so long, why he'd hidden it but god did Reborn_ ** _want_ **_._

 _"I won't run. I won't hide." Skull finished quietly. "But I will never be one of yours. Not after everything you've all done."_

 _"I won't accept that." Reborn stated. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Vipers shadowy figure becoming more solid. "Not this time."_

 _"I don't care." Skull smiled enigmatically. "Stay away from me, Renato. This is my only warning."_

 _Reborn scoffed hands folding behind his back. Viper was waving frantically now, arms phasing in and out of focus._

 _"And what, exactly, could you do about it?" He just had to stall for a few more moments. Just a little while longer._

 _"A_ _Cloud_ _is a_ Cloud _is a_ ** _Cloud_ **_, Reborn. Think on that." A sharp grin. "And make sure Viper takes care of Oodako for me, kay?" A wave of Skulls hand sent out purple colored smoke, sending both Reborn and the now almost physical Viper tumbling. Falling down down down like Alice._

 _The dream shattered—_

* * *

 _I got a one track mind since you left me behind, all I can think about, Is how could you, yes how could you not turn when I shout?_

* * *

The Strongest of the Rainbow Mafia watched silently as Reborn, Sun Flame; Greatest Hitman woke up from his Mist induced dream. They'd tried to convince him to allow someone else to go instead, _anyone_ else. Because letting Reborn chase after Skull had been a mad decision, made out of desperation for some type of answers.

They'd all known it wouldn't go well, but he wouldn't have listened anyway.

Reborn had been almost manic when he'd burst through the doorway. As uncontained as they'd ever seen him be. His clothes were dirty, nowhere near the pristine perfectionist they'd learned to expect from him in every situation. His eyes constantly moved from each of them, counting heads over and over again, always struggling when he got to the last one. Starting over again as if he'd just lost count at some point.

 _That_ reminder of how it had been in the beginning, had not been welcome. _From any of them._

Known to the rest of the world but unacknowledged between them all, was that Reborn was their undisputed Leader. He had a magnetic charisma that simply pulled people towards him, and despite how much their egos hated to admit it, since they were all the best in their own fields, Reborn was the strongest of them.

After Luce.. he'd been the one to keep them together.

They'd all been so out of it, so lost without their kinda-sky, ( _Who to her credit had tried to help. But they hadn't been able to stand being near her, nor her Flames that still tried to reach for them_ ) bodies that they didn't know how to use, minds and Flames latching onto anything that was familiar enough to feel _safe._

Reborn had been then one to rally them. He'd been the one to take charge in the direct aftermath, he'd been the one that helped Viper in their frantic search for answers, held them in his own tiny arms while they screamed at him, at Luce, at the world. Took Viper throwing his worst fears as illusions in his face. Stopped them with bloody hands when they'd tried to rip their hood off, ' _Because why not?! Where all stuck like this! What's the point of anything anymore when I'll never be me again!?'_ He'd sat with them and had let them cry, let them confess how they'd _only wanted a Sky_. _Why?_ _Why did this always happen to them?_

He'd smuggled Fon back into China to find his family after they'd all decided to go their own ways, the Storm's legendary cool smashed into pieces as he raged at everything that wasn't explicitly _theirs._ Unable to find peace long enough to go by plane, since everywhere they went people _stared,_ he'd gone with the Storm by boat, days and weeks passing as he kept the other leashed to rational thought.

He'd kept Colonello and Lal from fracturing apart any more then their bodies had already done to them. Colonello he hadn't even known at the time, only from stories of a cheerful man who loved Lal with the passion of a thousand golden retrievers, but who was one of _them_ now, if for no other reason then he'd tried to save their only female member. He became big brother and commander to the two Army vets, something that they knew how to fall back on. Something he'd had no experience in before.

And Lal.. he practiced for _hours_ with Lal. Day after day he'd push her out of bed, out of the house and make her work with her new Flames. He'd let her beat on him until her Mist and Cloud Flames were just as good as her Rain had ever been. Let her tell them how she was planning on saying yes to Colonello's next date. How she'd bought a dress the color of his eyes and everything, just to make him happy. ..How _they_ _had no future now, because what were they supposed to do? They were children._

Verde had been deadly in the direct aftermath. Suicidal and Murderous. They didn't talk about it anymore, but the day after everything Reborn had found him trying to blow up Luce's Family headquarters, screeching in a voice that was so desolate it brought Luce to her knees in front of him begging for forgiveness, was the day that halted his genius mind.

It had been horrible to listen to the sarcastic scientist scream that his life was _over._ He made things, he didn't use his Flames the way they did. How was he supposed to survive in the Mafia when he was nothing like them?!

He'd had to fight Verde then. In the front lawn of the Arcobaleno Sky's ( _but not their Sky_ ) mansion was the first Clash between them. Verde might not have ever used his Flames like the others but he was a genius for a reason. He was clearly out-classed but fought with a viciousness of a man possessed. And Reborn had let him. Had fought with Verde for long minutes when he could have stopped it at the beginning. Until Verde was all out of steam, numb to everything. Mind blank for once in the scientist's life.

Then he'd helped him. Taken him (And the others.) to Reborns own safe house deep in the mountains. They'd all been so senseless then, they'd have followed anyone that promised safety. He'd hid them there, broken and hurt, and guarded them ferociously. Like a Dragon guarding its horde.

For weeks he ran himself ragged killing off Families that had heard of the new Arcobaleno. Families that came for them, over and over while they healed mentally and emotionally. Reborn fought tooth and nail, proving himself the Strongest in the World, even now, against _everyone,_ all without the _Giglio Nero Famiglia's_ help. He'd made his name and engorged his legend protecting them.

 _Everyone_ learned to fear the name Reborn.

But Reborn had been broken too that day. He'd coped with protecting them, the most intrinsic instinct a Sun had. But it hadn't been enough, not nearly enough when they weren't _complete._

* * *

 _Like I never mattered, we're collateral when you feelin down, Yet it's back to you, always back to you no matter how it turns out._

* * *

Because Skull had ran.

Unlike all of them, the day of the curse Skull had woken up first, only moments, seconds before but it'd been his scream that'd started everything.

Reborn had been the second to regain consciousness, snapped into action by Skulls panic. The others followed soon after, one by one waking to find they had been changed in the worst possible ways.

Skulls Flames had been going out of control, slamming against the roof, raising the floor in uneven furrows, while he'd looked at them all in horror.

Reborn must have seen something in his face that day because he'd lunged at Skull, his tiny body unsteady and unused, he'd missed flying right by Skulls face. Skull had scrambled away from them all, towards the entrance of the mountain ignoring Reborn's demands and Luce's pleas, his Flames blacking the grass that surrounded them all.

The rest of them too overwhelmed with what had happened to try and stop him just sat and watched. With one last terrified expression he'd fallen out of the doorway and they hadn't seen him again until years later.

Reborn hadn't taken it well.

For weeks when he wasn't helping the others or running off the Hitman sent for them, he watched the boundary lines. They all knew he had some kind of warning system, but hadn't known how it worked. But when Viper had finally asked, uncaring but wanting him to _stop._ He'd told them, black eyes counting obsessively over each of their heads.

He was waiting for Skull.

He couldn't go find Skull, not with them all here and the Families trying to capture them, but he couldn't _stand_ Skull being alone out there either. His instincts warred within him.

Save and Protect.

Save _or_ Protect.

They knew what he'd chosen, since he was there with them. But with the way he prowled around them all, catching and demanding information on their lost member from any of the Hitman foolish enough to not die quickly, they also knew he'd _hated it._ Having to choose.

Wondering and then having it _confirmed_ that Skull was being run into the ground while they were all safely tucked away in Reborn's territory drove him insane.

They all listened, as much as they could in their own defeated states, on how high the death toll rose. On the family's that got decimated one after the other as they chased the only easily accessible Arcobaleno.

They watched how Reborn seethed.

So yes. They'd seen Reborn this way before. But this situation had the opportunity to be _so much worse._

They'd had the Bond before, had known when Skull was scared, when he was angry and when he was lonely. They knew where he was vaguely, knew how far from them he traveled. Knew when someone actually had captured him for a time, how they hurt him with different weak Sky's and when he escaped.

They had nothing now.

Nothing but a consumed Leader who wasn't thinking rationally. A leader who was planning to chase a fleeing Cloud, a fleeing Cloud who they still had no idea why he'd fled. Why he'd decided he didn't want them anymore.

And Aria still wasn't pregnant.

Oh god, _Aria._

 _Reborn was going to kill her._

* * *

 _Everyday I go harder, to get stronger, past my own doubts, get back to you, back to our roots no matter how it turns out._

* * *

The atmosphere in the room was tense.

Lal and Colonello sat in a corner huddled alone. Colonello's skin was grey from the fight he'd tried to put up when they realized what was happening. His normally cheerful blonde hair drooped at the top, an almost sickly green-yellow. Lal sat with him, grasping each other's hands desperately. She hadn't felt the break as strongly as the others, still getting used to her original Flames, but she'd seen the aftermath when the others started dropping where they stood.

Viper stood by Fon in the far right corner with Reborn, she'd been the second one up after Fon who still couldn't stand. But Reborn was the one they were all focused on at the moment. He was pacing in front of them all, mind a thousand miles away.

"What did you learn, Viper?" was the first words spoken to any of them since he'd woken up from his and Skull's shared dream.

Viper shifted uncomfortably. "Skull's by a town called Ryazan in Russia.."

"Already?" Fon asked from the sofa. He was still staggered from the short and dirty fight he'd lost with Skull's Flames. "It's been less than 6 hours."

"Yes but we don't actually know his capabilities. Not after what happened.. earlier." Viper tugged down on their hood in a nervous motion. "We have to go into this assuming we know nothing about them. Or him."

"But he _is_ in Russia. Did you find out where he's heading?" Reborn confirmed.

"No." Viper murmured.

 _"Why._ " Reborn turned towards them both, his face shadowed by his hat. Leon rubbed against the side of his throat in comfort.

"Because Skull doesn't know himself. He has no long term plans other then 'Go.' "Viper sighed looking down at Fon who'd grabbed their hand when Reborn turned to them both.

"None?"

"No, nothing. It's like he's intentionally not thinking of what he plans to do.." Viper trailed off.

"Because he knows you'll be watching for it." Verde finished for them, voice annoyed. "To think, that idiot would decide to be clever now of all times."

Verde turned away from them all, checking up on the satellite map he had set up on his laptop, in the same area where he'd gone down when Skull had ripped the bond out of him. "Of all the luck.."

Luck doesn't tell me where he is now, _Verde_."

" _Don't_ talk to me like that.' Verde snapped. "It's your fault he ran off to begin with. Tell us Reborn, what happened when you went out after him? "

Reborn turned towards Verde silently, stepping towards him on quiet feet, "Weren't you up the quickest Verde? From what Lal said when I returned you'd barely hit the floor before you awake again." Verde looked away. "What does that say about your relationship, I wonder?"

Verde turned back around angrily strading to stand toe to toe with Reborn."You _know_ why he's scared of me, you know exactly why! Don't you _dare_ imply that when you know it's Checker Face's fault!"

Reborn cocked his head forward to show the slight few inches he had over Verde. "Checker Face didn't _make_ you do anything. You did it because you wanted to do it, because you were curious." Reborn's voice was dark.

"I didn't know him then! I had no idea he was our Cloud!" Verde shouted.

"And you apologized didn't you? Condescending scientist that you are, you apologized then didn't even wait to see if It'd been accepted or not, just went on your merry way, happy with a job well done."

"Stop it right now or I swear to god Reborn-" Verde had Reborns lapes in his fistd almost shouting in his face, while Reborn sneered down at him.

"Or what? Will you try to use me for your experiments like you did him? Will you-"

"Stop it! Both of you! This is not the time to turn on each other." Lals voices cut through the raising tension like a shot. "Skull is _gone._ For better or for worse it's all of our faults." Her hand tightened to a near death grip on Colonello's. The blonde shot a panicked look towards Fon who just shook his head sadly at the women's immense strength. "At least this time we can go after him." Lal's eyes looked at all of them determinedly. "And we will find him."

Reborn stepped away from Verde hands swiping down his front to smooth out all the invisible wrinkles Verdes hands had caused. Verde himself ran a hand down his tired face before slumping down beside Fon, leaving Reborn and Viper the solo people still standing.

"I don't know where he is either. Skull's not stupid. He took all my trackers off before he left the house and I have no idea where he got the bike Reborn saw." His head thumped against the back of the couch. "It's definitely nothing I ever built him."

"Lal?"

Lal turned to look at Colonello beside her who nodded. "I'll call some people.."

"Some people?" Reborn didn't turn back to look at them from where he stood against the large windows.

Colonello answered for both of them. "We have more contacts on the right side of the Law, even after so long. I'll-" Lal elbowed him in the side. " _We'll_ get some of our Cop friends looking. Even _if_ Skull ends up being able to hide from us, it'll be even harder to hide from them."

Reborn nodded and allowed himself a moment to just breathe. Skull would be fine, even as angry as he was, he wouldn't be able to get too far before someone saw him. All they really had to do was wait. This wouldn't be like back then, no matter how much it felt like it. He could fix this.

"Fon?" Reborn questions tiredly.

"I'll contact Kyoya."

Viper shares a look with Lal, then with Verde. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"What do you mean?" Colonello asked confused.

"I mean, are we sure we want to get the Vongola involved in this?" Viper asks the room at large. "Skull has connections with their sister family, not to mention the Varia have been looking for a Cloud Officer for a very long time.."

"Skull's an Arcobaleno!" Colonello snarled at the Miser.

"There _aren't_ any Arcobaleno anymore, Colonello . Were the last generation. When Tsuna broke the curse, he _also_ killed the name. And with Skull breaking his bond with us.." Viper huffed back.

"It means anyone could grab him and as long as he wanted it there wouldn't be a damn thing we could do about it." Verde groaned. "Leave it to Skull to make running away a Mafia issue."

"Agreed." Reborn spoke up over them all. "From this moment on this is an Arcobaleno problem. Don't tell anyone unless you know they can keep their mouths shut under pain of death." Reborn turned back towards them all gun at the ready. "I'll be enforcing it for all your informant's. Don't forget to tell them that."

* * *

 _ **Italian** **:** __Cuore mio - My heart_

 _ **Italian** : Bello - Male form of Beautiful _

_**Italian** : Bellissima - Gorgeous _

_**Russian** : Моя шлюха - My Slut. _


	4. Chapter 4

_I have questions for you_  
 _Number one, tell me who you think you are_  
 _You got some nerve trying to tear my faith apart_ _  
_( _I have questions for you)_

After the others beside Verde and Reborn left the meeting to make calls or just to get away from the knowledge that they weren't complete anymore, Viper found themselves wandering aimlessly in the direction of their room. It was.. hard to concentrate on where they needed to go and what they needed to do. They had people to call, they could try to get a read on Skull again or even try and go pick a fight with one of the others to blow off some of these dark rolling feelings, the ones that wanted to crawl out of their throat in shouts and accusations

The others would be up for it, they knew. But it would inevitably turn toxic once their emotions started to rise. And they didn't want that, didn't want to fight with the rest of their family, didn't want to spit the acidic words they knew they could- _would_ say if they gave in to the impulse.

Didn't want to cause any more wounds then the ones they all to deal with already in this entirely too messed up situation.

So to their room it was.

( _They_ _hadn't known what was happening at first when Aria fell to the ground with a blood curdling shriek. One moment she'd been fine, trying to pull Lal into a conversation, one which the Rain was ignoring with as much politeness as she could when her Sky was talking to her, and drowning them all in surpy Sky Flames._

 _Then she'd dropped._

 _They hadn't panicked right away, confusion had been the most prominent feeling. It hadn't been as alarming as it probably should have been, when it concerned the Arcobaleno Sky. Fon had sighed, moving to stand when no one had gone to check on Aria, who remained on the ground for long seconds when Viper felt the most agonizing pain they'd ever had._

 _It was like someone was tearing off a chunk of their soul with a jagged spoon. They couldn't have stayed on their feet, even if they'd had a moment to brace for it. They felt so weak all of a sudden, like a strength they'd had for so long they'd forgotten about it had suddenly left them._

 _It felt like gravity was suddenly a hundred times heavier. They had to have blacked out for a second or two because they didn't remember closing their eyes before they were opening them again._

 _They couldn't move very well, their body so weak they were horrified for a heart stuttering second that they'd been Cursed back into their baby body again. But no, their hand was still the same size it was supposed to be, their robe fit them still instead of pooling around them like it had before._

 _Lal was yelling at something, her voice the most panicked Viper had ever heard the normally stoic woman use. But they couldn't focus enough to hear the words clearly. They caught some here and there, something about Skull and that Reborn was gone as well but that was it. Why did they feel so alone?_

 _"-Fon! What's going on?! Fon! Dammit man! Wake up!-"_

 _Fon?_

 _Heaving themselves to the side Viper looked around with only their eyes, moving their head still felt like a colossal task and since they weren't actively getting murdered at the moment, they figured they had a while to rest._

 _"Colonello! You idiot, don't you dare die on me!"_

 _Fon looked worse than drunk._

 _The poor man was as white as a sheet, his normally tidy hair was frizzed out everywhere, like he'd touched an electrical socket. Bruises were starting to appear around his eyes, which was beyond strange since she knew they hadn't been there this morning. And bruises as dark as that don't just appear with no warning._

 _Viper dragged themselves over towards Fon and Lal, the woman smacking him in the face to try and rouse him from unconsciousness, one hand still buried in a passed out Colonello 's hair._

 _They both really did look hungover. Colonello being dragged around by his hair, Fon basically swooning on the low couch, Lal frantically ( as frantic as she could be anyways) turning from one to the other._

 _Turning their head was even easier this time so they could look around for the only other person missing in the scene. Verde was also out cold, his eyelids twitching like he was about to wake back up. How long had it been? What had happened?_

 _"L- Lal.." God, their throat hurt. Had they been screaming? Why couldn't they remember? Where was Reborn?_

 _Lal's head snapped up, brown eyes narrowed in aggressive worry. Her hand hooked around the him of Viper's robe and pulled them towards the rest of the little group._

 _"Viper! Do you know what happened?! You were the first to go down." Lal ordered commandingly, her face set in stone as she glanced quickly over at Verde who was already coming to._

 _"No I-" Viper started, their voice cracking in the middle. "Do you feel that?"_

 _"Feel what? Mist Flames? I don't think whatever this was could have been only one type of attack. How did they even incapacitate us all so quickly..." Lal tightened her grip on Vipers robe. "Something about this…"_

 _"No." Viper said. "No not that, something's missing."_

 _"Missing?" Lal askled absently. She wasn't really paying attention most of her focus on the entrances around them incase whoever had done this decided now was the time to attack with most of them out of commission._

 _Viper gritted their teeth underneath their hood. They understood why Lal March was doing what she was, Viper themself was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to hold off **Tsunayoshi** in this state and that kid didn't know the meaning of 'Don't hold back.' "Yes. It's like.. Like something's gone. Broken." _

_Lal's focus quickly came back at the note of barely suppressed annoyance in Viper's voice. She eyed them uncertainty. "Viper.. Are you sure? I don't feel like anything's… gone, just different. "_

 _"So you can't feel anything? Nothing feels the slightest bit different?" Viper asked incredulously. How could Lal not feel the hole in her soul, like they could? Was it only them? Where was Reborn?_

 _"I feel it too."_

 _A deep, sorrowfully voice spoke up from the direction of the couch. Turning quickly both Viper and Lal could see Fon's eyes had opened but he hadn't tried to move yet. Silent tears were trailing down the side of his face. He stared uncomprehendingly at the ceiling._

 _"Fon?" Viper crawled over towards the couch hurriedly, Lal's grip on their robe breaking reluctantly when they pulled away. "Fon what is it, what's happened?"_

 _"Skull's gone." Fon dragged one long arm over his eyes and left it there._

 _What?_

 _"What are you talking about?" Lal demanded. "Why would Skull be gone? He can't die!"_

 _Fon shook his head. Viper started to get a very bad feeling about all of these, the ache in their chest growing as the words spilled out of Fon's mouth. They sounded to much like the truth for them to deny as feverently as they wanted._

 _"Skull tore out his Bond to use all. That's what this feeling is. This emptiness." Fon's voice hitched." Skull did something that shouldn't even be possible without everyone involved dying. He should be_ ** _dead,_** _we should_ ** _ALL_** _be dead."_

 ** _no._**

 _No, Skull wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. They had plans coming up after this, Skull was going to show them the circus he'd started at and they we're going to a Maid Café on Thursday. He wouldn't do this!_

 _"Your lying." Their voice came out in a whisper. "YOUR LYING! You just said it was impossible! If it's impossible then he couldn't have done it! He- he must have done something else! Reborn was probably picking on him again and something happened! Skull wouldn't DO THAT."_

 _Lal looked away when Viper turned to her for support, looking down into the glazed eyes of a slowly waking Colonello. Her hand's tightened even further in his hair. "I don't know.. I still can't-"_

 _"You still can't feel anything can you?" Came Verde's voice from the side of them all. The cold, practical tone sent Viper's blood boiling even hotter. "It has to be because you we're never a full Arcobaleno. So your bond to Skull was practically nonexistent."_

 _"Oh, like you have room to talk!" Viper hissed. "Can you even feel anything? You seem very calm for someone who's missING PART OF THEIR SOUL!" They spun in a wide circle ready to go tearing out of the house to prove to all of the others that Skull hadn't done what they we're saying._

 _"Viper! You know Skull better than anyone! Can you honestly tell me he wouldn't do something like this if pushed?" Lal snapped out pushing Colonello head off her lap to stand and confront the Mist. "Can you look me in the eye and swear that this-"_

 _"Unnatural."_

 _Fon's bleak voice brought both Mist and Rain up short. Viper lost whatever strength their outrage had given them and fell back to the ground with an oomph. Lal sighed tiredly and did the same looking over towards Fon who still hadn't removed his arm. "What?"_

 _Fon's mouth turned down darkly at the corners. "This is unnatural, all of it. When I said it was impossible, I meant it was _**_Impossible_** _. No human should have enough power to do this, It goes entirely against the natural order of things. I'd be surprised if_ ** _Checker Face_ **_was able to do something like this and he's as close to a demi-god as anything I've ever seen."_

 _" 'Skull' and 'Impossible' go together all the time, Fon. We were turned into super powered infants for decades. Skull doesn't die. I'm surprised you'd be the one who wouldn't think it was possible." Verde said simply._

 _"Yes and I'm sure you know all about that don't you?" Verde's face went stark white and he glared poison over at Viper._

 _"Don't you dare."_

 _The smile Viper wore was vicious. " You know all about Skull's impossibleness, so please, share with the Class. Tell me about what my best friend can and can't do. Why don't you tell us how you have such intimate knowledge of Skull's immortality you crack-pot!"_

 _Verde surged to his feat to tower over them all, every line in his face etched with desperate grief. "Do not bring up things you don't understand if you don't want_ _your_ _mistakes to be drug up as well!"_

 _Viper scoffed. " MY mistakes? When have I ever-?"_

 _"So you don't remember how Skull met the Carcassa?' Viper tried to rise to their feet but couldn't, slumping back down to the floor with a snarl on their face._

 _"That was Reborn! I wouldn't have actually-!"_

 _"Oh, but you did! You agreed to-"_

 _"Only because Reborn said Skull knew what was-"_

 _"And you trusted that!? You know how he is with Skull-!"_

 _"Do_ ** _not_** _bring up other people's issues with Skull when you can't even acknowledge-"_

 _"That wasn't my fault!'_

 _"It was all your fault! He wouldn't even go near-"_

 _"THE POINT IS-" Fon's normally calm voice roared over them both, "-that what just happened shouldn't have physically been possible."_

 _Both Viper and Verde quieted almost immediately. It was.. something else to hear the always serene man lose his temper, much less explode over other peoples yelling._

 _All was quiet for a moment as the rest of them all just,,, stood there. What else were they supposed to do? What were they going to do..._

 _It's Verde that breaks the silence surprisingly. His voice is small in the hushed room, you could almost call it timid, if you didn't know he was the one talking. "Does anyone even know where Reborn is?"_

 _"Gee, I don't know, Skull decided to break his Bonds with us all out of the blue and no one knows where Reborn is?" Colonello groaned from the ground. "Come on you guys, I feel like I was just in a fist fight with a bear and even I already know he's gotta be wherever Skull is, kora."_

 _Colonello sat up slowly Lal helping him onto another couch. He rubbed a hand against his forehead and winced when Lal tried to shine a light into his eyes. He'd been the last to wake up._

 _"That kid sure can pack a punch, kora." Waving Lal away he took the reactionary puch she sent to his arm at the action, "It felt like I was in a fight with both Lal AND Reborn. Drunk. With no weapons."_

 _Everybody looked away from each other to both hide the shiver at the very idea of fighting both Lal and Reborn, drunk and without weapons and to hide their embarrassment over not realizing, yeah this_ ** _was_** _probably Reborn's fault. Or at least he'd most likely been there._

 _(Somewhere far, far away Tsunayoshi Vongola felt as if someone had walked across his grave. He held in the instinctive Hei! that wanted to come out convinced that no matter where his tutor was he would somehow_ ** _know_** _, but couldn't resist ducking under his desk to hide._

 _His intuition was all but begging him to not call Reborn for the next (Redacted) (Redacted). Otherwise he'd have to do something horrible for 'training.' And to avoid all types of Skulls in the near future._

 _Despairing on what that even meant, and why his intuition was so weird, Tsunayoshi reached out from under his desk to press the intercom and command Hayato to come drink with him under his desk. If what his Intuition was vaguely hinting at was true… He'd need all the time he could get before everything went to hell._

 _Why was everyone he knew so Extra?!)_

" _Do you think he's.. alright?" Lal says into the awkward feeling room causing Fon to snort and Viper to turn away with a small smirk, Verde just looked exasperatedly at her._

 _"Reborn? He's probably fine if Skull did what he did to us all to him. At worst he passed out like the rest of us, at best he's carrying a shrieking Skull back to the house as we speak." Verde shook his head, hands going to rub at his face. "I'm honestly more concerned about what even brought this all on. They had to have another one of their Sexual Tension filled fights."_

 _Colonello sputtered from where he had laid her head down on Lal's shoulder. " 'Sexual Tension filled fights?!' What the hell, kora!"_

 _Verde dropped his hands and stared at the blonde like he'd grown another head and said Einstein was a flat earther. "You do… You do know Reborn's in love with Skull, right?"_

 _If it was possible Colonello's eyes widened further in incredulous surprise. 'What are you even talking about? Reborn hates him!"_

 _Verde stared at Colonello before looking at Lal who just shook her head with a small smile on her face. "Your joking."_

 _Colonello looked at Lal pleadingly as well, then turned back towards Verde. "No! Why would I-! Reborn is **not** in love with Skull!" Colonello turned frantic looks at all the others who just shook their heads sadly at him. "What the hell, kora!" _

_"I think we all forget you weren't here for the very beginning." Viper chimed in. "And you still have to pay me for this information by the way, but when Skull first showed up Reborn was fascinated with him. They we're mission partners, like me and Fon and you and Lal, but after we were all Cursed.." Viper trailed off thoughtfully. "They were very close. And I don't think Skull ever realized but Reborn couldn't get enough of him." A pause. "Then something happened on one of their missions, neither of them would tell us what but Skull disappeared for months afterwards. After a few days Reborn seemed to calm from whatever had occurred but… no one could find Skull."_

 _Colonello watched Viper intently, he was fascinated with this retailing since the others almost never talked about what happened before they were all cursed._

 _"He wouldn't answer any of our calls, and as the days went by Reborn got even more high strung then he already was. It took Checker Face himself looking for Skull before he reappeared."_

 _Viper pursed their lips together unhappily. "It wasn't pretty, the aftermath. If I hadn't been spying on everyone for months beforehand I would have been convinced it was a Lovers Spat. It was brutal what Reborn said to try and get a rise out of Skull. I've never seen him so vicious then in the days after Skull was dragged back.."_

 _"And?" Colonello prompted._

 _Viper shook herself out of her thoughts to turn and look at the door to the house, "And Skull was different after that. He became what he is now, stopped going on missions with Reborn, and never let him get to his heart ever again. So yes, Reborn **is** in love with Skull. He has been for a very long time." Viper sighed. "After the Curse everything fell even more apart. We were all broken in different ways, all clinging to each other. Except Skull." _

_Fon took over the story then. Vipers voice had slowly lost all emotion as they continued, shock setting in. "That's why I became Reborn's partner and Viper Skull's. They couldn't be in the same room together without Reborn trying something to get under Skull's skin, and when he didn't react the way Reborn wanted him to it just escalated."_

 _Verde pulled out his suitcase from under the couch, and stated to set it up, head half turned towards where the others were._

 _"It was...very bad." Fon said quietly._

 _Verde snorted. "Bad? Try abusive. Whatever happened between them fucked their emotions and instincts towards each other up so badly it affected all of us. If they had just copulated like normal humans, or even just had hate sex it might have all calmed down eventually." The scientist turned on his trackers only to scowl at the screen. "But instead we get a Pining Powerhouse of a Sun and a In-Denial Broken Cloud as our Family Drama. I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened earlier."_

 _"Skull is not-"_

 _The door slammed open to reveal a disheveled Reborn grinning demonically at them all. His eyes excitedly moved from one Guardians to the next, taking them all in. The door slowly swung shut behind him, those creepy black eyes zeroed in on Viper who took half a step back at their intensity. They could practically feel the sharp intent behind that look._

 _"Viper. I need your Flames."_

 _Reborn went to step forward but paused head cocked sideways. Slowly he looked at them again slowly and spoke as if he really didn't want the answer but couldn't resist the p[potential Chaos opportunity._

 _"...Why is Aria on the floor?"_


	5. Chapter 5

( **Yo! I wasn't planning on posting this chapter so soon after the last one (and I'll still be waiting to post it in a couple of days on A03) but this is for Amanda!**

 **It sucks being sick, so if it's any consolation to you, I'm also recovering from two root canals and getting my wisdom teeth out soon!**

 **So…. misery loves company and all that! I hope you like the new 'special' chapter, only here on just for you! Thanks for all your very nice reviews. I really appreciate them. (** **｡•** **̀ᴗ-)✧ )**

* * *

 _I have questions for you_  
 _Number one, tell me who you think you are_  
 _You got some nerve trying to tear my faith apart_

 _(I have questions for you)_

Viper looked down silently at the doorknob to their room. All they had to do was turn it, everything would be exactly the same as how they left it when they got up that morning. The clothes from last night would be on their dresser, Fon's ridiculous amount of hair care products would be strewn around the room in illogical places, their sewing kit would be on the night table and both theirs and Fon's books would still be piled around the bookcase instead of on it.

Everything would be the same as it was when they'd left that morning.

The same as every day.

Except it _wasn't._

Viper's hand let go of the doorknob to pound at the wood Itself, sliding down to their knees against the door. Nothing would ever be the same again. Because Skull had _left_ them, he'd left without saying anything, had taken off the moment they weren't looking. They'd had _plans._ They we're going to travel for a while together, Skull's idea when he'd heard they'd never been on a road trip.

What had happened? What had they done to drive him away? How could they even try to fix this when they couldn't find him! What was the use of their powers when they couldn't even…

A hand on the back of their shoulder made Viper want to hid away. They knew who it was of course, the only person it could possibly be with their room so deep within the house.

Being a Mist both had it's advantages and disadvantages, one of them being if they were ever taken out before the others, all of their Illusions protecting the house would fall with them. So it was only common sense that their room would be as deep within the mansion as it could possibly.

"Viper.." Finger's toughened from untold hours of hand to hand combat smoothed over their cheek. "Come, Xīngān. Let's go inside before the others see you like this. You'd hate it if you were more cognizance.." Strong arms lift them into a firm chest, before the ground starts to sway. Viper refuses to look at the room around them as they passed the door, pressing there face into the _changshan_ that had always smelled the same, even when the arms had been to small to carry them like this, Viper shivered in dread. Something was _different_.

"Oh, Skull no…" Fon's whispered words caused Vipers heart to clench in renewed agony. They didn't want to look, but a small tap-tap-tap against glass pulled their face away from the safety of Fon's chest. A small wail clawed its way up their throat at the sight of a tiny Oodako sitting sadly in his travel aquarium. A small tentacle waved and Viper couldn't hold it in any more. Not when the only other person there was Fon and the Animal Partner Skull would have _never_ left if this wasn't real.

Oh god, _this was real._

 _This was real and Skull had left. Skull had cut all ties with them. He was gone, he was gone and it was all their fault. Why hadn't they ever tried to stop Reborn? Why did they never do_ _anything_ _that they should have done? What was wrong with them?! Skull had always been there for them, over and over and over again he'd been there and THEY HAD NEVER HELPED HI-_

"-Viper! Viper, wake up! Your illusions are attacking Oodako!" Fon's voice broke through their spiraling thoughts like a sharp knife in flesh. Wildly they half stumbled, half crawled over to Oodako who… was perfectly fine.

Heaving out a relieved breath, Viper hugged the top of Oodako's tank. The small octopus petted the area where Viper's arm was lying against the cold glass. "That was a cheap solution, mou."

Fon didn't smile like he might have at any other time. His expression stayed on what could be seen of Viper's face, and the tears that were still trailing down them without their permission.

"Maybe. But it worked didn't it?" He shrugged half-heartedly. "Your no longer panicking."

"Yes!" Viper snapped shrilly "Because I thought I was killing the only thing Skull left me!" A harsh tap against the glass pulled Viper's attention from the unmoved Fon. The little octopus was looking up at them sternly, it's small arms on non-existent hips as it shook a finger at them.

Viper flinched from the slight admonishment before unscrewing the top of the Oodako's and letting the tiny creature they almost knew as well as Fantasma climb up their arm. "I'm sorry, doko-chan. I know you don't like loud noises when your like this." Viper stroked one finger down the happy creatures head. "Forgive me?"

Viper focused on the tiny version of doko-chan they rarely got to see and tried to ignore the eyes that we're burning un-judgmentally into the side of their head. They really didn't want to get into it with Fon, not the way they knew he wanted to.

 _"_ He can't plan to be gone forever if he left you with me. Maybe he's just.. mad?" Viper shook their head confusedly, the thought of _Skull_ actually _angry_ was a strange one. "Reborn can be a dick, and to Skull most of all. "

Doko-chan nodded sadly. Viper tipped their head forward slightly to get a better look at the octopus's face. Sometimes it could be hard to get a read on him, and that nod could mean anything from 'Yes, Reborn **is** a dick and Leon is too forgiving of it" to "Skull-Mama told me all of his plans don't worry.' It really depended.

Fon blew out a breath that could charitably be called a sigh behind them and Viper couldn't take it anymore. Wheeling around they crossed their arms over their chest defensively and snapped out a harsh, "What."

Fon leaned up from the wall and took a step closer towards them, causing Viper to hurriedly back up again. Doko-chan sensing the mood shifting away climbed up using the back of Vipers robes as a hand hold, towards Fantasma. Who seemed to have been waiting for him because the moment he was in touching distance of the frog they were both floating away towards the slightly open window, disappearing into the night.

Neither human noticed.

Which was just plain sad for the 'World's Greatest.' Although concessions could be made that they were in one of the most well guarded buildings in the world, in their own rooms no less, surrounded by the Strongest the Flame Mafia had to offer. If they couldn't let their guard down here, there really was nowhere they could.

"-We'll just have to find him then!" Viper yelled back at Fon, voice trembling the slightest bit.

"And then what? We drag him back here, kicking and screaming and force him to stay? Make him hate us even more than he probably already does?" Fon asked calmly. You would only be able to tell how stressed the Chinese man was by how tense his folded arms looked.

"No! That's not-"

"Then what else could it be? **_I_** was the last one awake besides Lal, Viper. When we all started falling, I felt him just as clearly as you must have, maybe even better since I had a suspicion on what was happening." Viper's lower lip wobbled but he continued dispassionately. "He felt trapped. Like a beaten dog in a cage, he was going mad from the way we've _all_ treated him throughout the years."

Fon stepped to quickly into Viper's space for them to do anything other then try and smack him weakly, but he just took their hands and held them to his forehead. Head bowed as if to ask forgiveness about what he had to say. What Viper had to hear before they made any plans.

"If he would have stayed, Skull would has imploded."

A kiss to Viper's knuckles, eye contact they didn't think they could stand right now.

"And he would have taken all of us down with him. You _know_ he'd never want that."

Viper curled their own fingers around the hold Fon had on their hand and clung with all their might. Their voice held all the fierceness it'd had before but none of the self pity.

"He can't be alone, Fon. Not Skull, he doesn't do well when he's alone. What's going to happen when he gets into trouble and we're not there to bail him out? What happens then? He may not be able to die but we both know that's not the worst thing that could happen to people like him."

"Viper, he's _gone_. _Skull is gone._ He broke every bond he had to us, he broke _Reborn's_ bond, he broke _yours._ If this doesn't show you how badly he wanted away from us all then nothing will."

"But we have to do something!" Viper begged.

Fon just shook his head tiredly and squeezed Vipers hands hard between him. "We can't. There's _nothing_ we can do right now."

"We have to _try_ Fon. We have to! He's one of us no matter what he thinks, and we don't leave each other to die alone!

And that's exactly what will happen if we don't bring him." Viper didn't know how to get though to him that just leaveing Skull on his own _wasn't an option._

"Viper.." Fon whispered heartbreakingly softly. "He doesn't want you."

Viper flinched back in shock and pain. They tried to wrestle their hands free to get away from Fon, from the truths they didn't want to hear, but with his superior physical strength it was a losing battle from the start. He let them fight for as long as they could but eventually Viper gave up and allowed themselves be enveloped in his warm arms.

"He left you." Fon said into their hood. "He left _you_ and _me_ and _everyone_."

Curling up tighter against him, Viper tried to block out the words. They weren't successful, every softly spoken word was like another knife in their heart. "Bringing him back won't fix anything. Won't fix all of us."

"….why did he leave, Fon? Where we really that bad?" Viper asks the question they'd been wondering since that first soul wrenching pain had hit them. "We.. we couldn't have been ..right?

Fon doesn't say a word, just holds Viper even more tightly in his arms.

And Viper breaks.

Viper cries more tears that night in their lovers arms then they had in all the time they'd been cursed. Great, giant _grieving_ sobs for all the times they could have stopped this, could have stood up to the others, could have just _helped_ Skull. Repaid him for all the times he'd helped them without any kind of ulterior motive.

Because Skull was kind.

He'd always been kind. Even when they didn't deserve it.

They loved him like a brother and he'd never known. Because they'd never told him or showed him. They could have stopped all this from happening but they didn't and for no other reason, then because it was easier.

It was a well known fact Skull couldn't die. So what did it matter if he got hurt a few thousand times?

Viper grieves into the earlier morning with Fon's arms wrapped solidly around them, his own tears soaking into the neck of their robe.

 _Number two, why would you try and play me for a fool?_ _  
_ _I should have never ever ever trusted you_

 _I have questions_

* * *

 _My name was safest in your mouth  
And why'd you have to go and spit it out?_

 ** _(Six Months after Reborn and Skull's Falling Out )_**

Reborn looked up from the beautiful woman on his arm, all long dark mulberry colored hair and glittering blue eyes ( _they were just a shade shy of lavender)_ to met the gaze of Sku- The Lackey. He'd been forced into another suit, this one a beautiful suede number with subtle dark, almost black plum highlights. It darkened his hair and made his eyes glint mischievously in the low light.

Fon was hanging off his arm again, the unlucky one picked to make sure Skull didn't sneak away again before the night was over. If the look on Fon's face was any indication it wouldn't be long before the Storm lost the free spirited Cloud for good. The kid already looked like he'd rather be chewing his own arm off then listen to another one of the Mafia princesses that surrounded him.

'Or rather' Reborn thought while he tucked a piece of hair behind the ear of the blushing woman beside him, 'He looked like he might start biting someone else's arm off if they didn't stop soon.'

Reborn ignored the woman's arm wrapping around his waist to stare amusedly at the suffering pair. She was a nobody, someone he didn't mind offending since she had no real contacts that could go up against an Arcobaleno. She'd been an amusing distraction ( _Long legs, hair isn't right, eyes just a few shades too light, boring conversation, what was he even doing? She didn't look anything like-)_ but that was all.

Reborn withdrew from woman, ignoring her questioning look he took her slim, soft hand ( _not even that was right)_ in his own calloused one and drew her towards the other Arcobaleno. When her head turned to look at where he was taking her, Reborn could feel the resistance of her outrageously tall heels ( _much to_ _short_ ) dig into the tiled floor.

That wouldn't do if he wanted to use her the way he was planning.

"Tell me, _mio caro._ Have I ever introduced you to my colleagues?"

The woman's face paled even further than the makeup made her appear. "N-no Reborn, I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure.." Her mouth turned down at the corners, making her purple lipstick look more like a dark, glossy bruise then the soft plum it was meant to be.

He slightly jerked her hand in his, his other arm reaching around to snag around her waist so she couldn't escape. "That just won't do. I'm sure they'd love to meet you just as much as I did, _angelo."_

They were half way across the room when the woman who he'd never bothered to learn the name of started to really struggle. If anyone around them noticed no one made a move to acknowledge it. She really didn't have many options if she planned to stay at all undercover for the rest of the night, she couldn't make _too_ much of a spectacle of herself. Dodging an elbow to his throat, Reborn activated the skin at the very tip of his fingers where they touched the woman's bare waist with Sun Flames. She stiffened up the moment she registered the pain, and Reborn hid his smirk with the edge of his fedora, leon's tail peeking over the rim.

It always interested him to know how someone would react to him activating the chemicals in their flesh that made them rot. It wouldn't kill her, not anytime soon, but she could clearly feel where his fingertips squished into her unnaturally decaying flesh.

A wash of weak Sun Flames tried to fight his own, before realizing it was an impossible task and focusing on not letting the rot that was inside her now spread any more than it already had. Reborn purred against the side of her soft hair, " No _really_ , I'm sure they'd _love_ to met you." She whimpered, sweat gathering at her ( _It really wasn't even close to the right color, was it? Sloppy of him)_ hairline.

Skull had looked away since he'd caught Reborn's eyes minutes ago, but he hadn't changed his expression from boredly suffering either. There was a tall, black haired woman to the side of him now with her hand on his face, turning him away from Reborn _and he definitely wouldn't allow that to stand._

 _(Why won't you look at me anymore? Why don't you see me anymore? What do I have to do to make you look my way with those impossible eyes?)_

Letting go of the woman's most likely numb hand, Reborn smoothly interjected them both into the quickly dissipating group surrounding Fon and The Lackey. "Excuse us. I hope we're not interrupting." He really didn't care if they were.

Fon's eye's went wide, his 'why me' look meant he already knew what was probably going happening and he already knew he couldn't stop it., Skull hadn't turned from the dark eyed woman who was whispering in his ear now. The side of his painted lips, being the only man in the entire ball cocky enough to wear makeup and damn whatever the hyper masculine Mafia men thought, tugged up at the ends.

"No, Reborn." Fon sighed "You know your always welcome with us." Fon already sounded resigned on where this trainwreck was headed, one way or another. His shoulders drooped down slightly when his eyes followed where Reborn was looking. Skull wasn't even paying attention to who had spoken.

This wasn't going to end well.

Reborn's eyes narrowed as a spark of annoyance shot through him at being ignored for some easily forgettable floozy. Snatching a hand out he gripped the back of Sku- The Lackey's annoyingly soft hair and _pulled_.

Skull yelped at the pain when he was dragged in front of Reborn, his hands already tangling with Reborn's own to try and force them off. "Fon! What the hell man-" He choked off when he ran head first into Reborn's date.

She screamed. Skull screamed, Reborn smirked and Fon pleaded with his eyes towards Viper who having noticed what was going on, turned the way they came from and booked it out of there. Either they were going to find Luce or they were getting as far away from the incoming blast radiance as they could be for the inevitable explosion.

None of the party-goers so much as twitched in their direction. The crowd itself radiated a powerful sense of 'Intense Ignoring Of Any Oddities.' This was a Flame Mafia party, after all. Someone was going to scream at some point.

Reborn kept a tight hold of Skull's hair as he dragged him up and away from both woman, the black haired one ( _And oh, now don't those dark espresso colored eyes look very familiar?)_ taking one look at Reborn's challenging stare and gracefully bowing out of the Game. The purple haired one Fon helped up, but kept a tight hold on. He smiled placidly down at her when she whimpered and turned prettily watering eyes up at him, she wouldn't be getting any help in that direction. And she seemed to realize it too, if that nasty scowl was anything to go by.

But Reborn was more interested in Skull's reaction then the woman Fon would hold for him until she was needed again. Reborn leaned the slightest bit over Skull, using his superior height in such an unsubtle display, that if any of the others had been there they would have checked him for Mist Flames. But it was just Fon, who (unfortunately for him) knew exactly how unsubtle Reborn could be when it came to Skull. The man was a subtle as one of his famous Chaos Shots, all bright color and overwhelming intensity or his penchant for Sadism in the work place, known and feared.

"You shouldn't ignore your betters, Lackey." Reborn pulled Skull's head back to face him so fast the pop of his neck was audible. But he wouldn't let Skull stand up, he was forced to stay on his knees where he'd landed when Reborn had first dragged him into the woman. "You never know who might take offence."

Skull's eyes started watering from the pull of his hair that Reborn held in a tight grasp, "But Re- Sempai!" Reborn twitched involuntarily at that… title. "I didn't know it was _you._ Skull-sama would _never_ ignore the Great Reborn-Sempai!" Skull whined up at him.

Reborn could feel the annoyance starting to build up in him. "Sk- Lackey. How many times have I told you not to call me Sempai." Reborn tugged harshly at Skulls hair.

Skull screamed dramatically of course, and the Intently-Ignoring-Everything crowd seemed to collectively move as one even farther away, all without stopping their own conversations.

Batting at Reborn's hand Skull looked up through his dark lashes, mascara running in rivets down his face, cheeks pink from crying and pouted. "But… What else am I supposed to call Reborn-Sempai?"

Reborn stared down at Skull for a few very long, silent seconds before turning his head away, one hand going up to cover his mouth. It was very hard, even for a genius like himself to think of something intelligent to say when the only thing going through his mind was _'pretty..._ '

To the immediate right of the couple in their own little world was a face-palming Fon and the unnamed woman, who looked ready to do battle herself. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Fon sighed "No, their really not." The arm not holding onto the woman scrubbed at his face tiredly.

The woman continued, outraged. "What are they even _doing_? Do you know how long it took me to get _any_ amount of attention from **Reborn**? And then he just- he just _appears_ and woosh! Gone! What the hell?!" Fon tried to calm her down, even though in his honest opinion, she really did have reason to be annoyed.

"Believe me, I understand..."

"I'm so much prettier than him!" She protested, free arm waving in Skull and Reborn's general direction. "It took me _forever_ to find such an unique shade of purple hair dye! Is this why he only goes after woman with purple-ish hair?!"

Fon awkwardly shifted, "I..couldn't say for sure…" Fon tried not to think of the little pinkish-purple haired girl Reborn spoiled outrageously, or how if she reminded _him_ of a small, childish Skull, then she must _really_ remind Reborn of the same. ( _Do not think on how she would be a perfect mix of both of them, Fon._ ** _Do Not_**.)

Now he _really_ hoped those two finished this soon, or maybe, hopefully a bolt of lightning would hit the mansion and they'd all be able to leave. (Wait, no, then he'd have to sit in a dark car with _both_ of them. _Together_. Fon had taken Skull in another car _away_ from everyone else for this _exact reason,_ but there would be no unlatching Reborn away from Skull now that he'd gotten his claws into him tonight. _)_

But the woman clung onto his uncertainty with all the tenacity of a Bulldog. "It is!" She crowed angrily "It totally is!" Smacking Fon's arm desperately she looked up at him and point blank asked, "Is that even flirting? I have no idea if that's flirting! I have no idea what that even _is._ "

"Yeah." Fon said looking forlornly at the door of the manor.. "We don't really know either."

And then, like a Goddess of Mercy, Luce swept down from the heavens (Or the stairs they were conveniently by) and started trying to separate a crying Skull and annoyed Reborn. Who still hadn't been able to 'convince' Skull to stop calling him Sempai.

Fon shook his head as he handed off the still ranting woman, an assassin after Reborn's Genes if he wasn't mistaken, towards Lal. It always stupefied him to watch how such a smart, crafty man could continually get played by Skull. _Everyone_ knew he only ever called Reborn 'Sempai' because it pissed him off.

Ever since he'd popped back up after months of being missing, Skull had taken to passive aggressively trolling Reborn any chance he could. And Reborn, for all his.. Well, _everythingness,_ never seemed to realize _that_ was what Skull was doing.

It really did boggle the mind what love could make a man do. Now, if only Reborn could actually _talk_ to Skull instead of trying to impress him in ways Skull had no interest in...

Then they might actually get somewhere.

 _Oh, your voice, it was the most familiar sound_  
 _But it sounds so dangerous to me now_

 _I have questions for you_

* * *

 **Chinese** ; _Xīngān_ \- _Basically an endearment meaning; My Heart and Soul, Someone I can't live without. Very_ serious _._


	6. Chapter 6

_Would you bleed for me?_  
 _Lick it off my lips like you needed me?_  
 _Would you sit me on a couch?_  
 _With your fingers in my mouth?_  
 _You look so cool when you're reading me_

It's early in the morning by the time Aria finally wakes up. All the others having gone their own ways for the night. Exhausted emotionally beyond what they were used to, it had been a hard few hours of arguing back and forth, trying hard to not place blame but fighting enviably breaking out every few minutes as everyone tried to understand what exactly had happened.

Reborn himself was probably the only one not yet completely exhausted. He'd let the others have their arguments, only stepping in once things started losing rationality, then backing away again to talk with Verde. As the night had deepened they'd slowly lost members. Viper leaving first after a harshly pointed question from Colonello on why _exactly_ they hadn't seen this coming before it happened. Fon leaving immediately after Viper, shooting Colonello a ice cold look that had the blonde cringing into the sofa.

Lal March left next hours after the first two. She'd been holding it together longer than any of them since learning she'd most likely barely had a Bond with Skull to begin with. A blow none of them had seen coming until Reborn shared his deduction that the small, barely clinging on one she _did_ have, had probably been the easiest to break.

He'd told them all about what he'd seen smoothly, giving nothing of his own thoughts away, about watching Skull in that strange wooden ball he'd made when the Bonds started to break. How they would flash with all the different colors of the rainbow. It hadn't been hard to tell what color corresponded with who. Colonnello's had been around a thirty second pulse of color, where Lal March's wouldn't have even registered if Reborn hadn't been watching for it so intensely.

She'd shot her own look at Colonello when he'd tried to move to join her, leaving the male half of the Rain's to pout on the sofa. Not even ten minutes later the Blonde had looked challengingly at Reborn who waved a hand basically dismissing the man since they had nothing else to add yet. He'd jumped up off the couch and was gone without a backward glance, taking the last of the rooms normal atmosphere with him.

Then there were three.

Verde hadn't made a sound while all the others left, simply walked up next to Reborn to stare out at Skull's dented motorcycle. The customized one he'd made such a long time ago when Verde thought there might be a way back into.. if not Skulls trust, then maybe his good graces. He'd always hoped that the peace offering would show that Skull had no real reason to fear him anymore, that maybe they could have a working relationship that wasn't based off of Skull's terror of him, no matter how well hidden it had become throughout the years. It seemed that plan hadn't worked out nearly as well as Verde had always assumed.

The two most calculative members of their little family stood in contemplative silence for a long while, each taking their own never-spoken comfort in not being alone. Or at least being alone together while not being judged on what they would have to do soon to protect the small amount of people they both claimed as theirs. Something the others didn't need to know about.

Verde was not a weak Flame User by any means but it's Reborn, of course, who sense's Aria waking up first. With a short glance at Verde that covers more than enough information between them the scientist moves towards the side of the room, away from Aria's direct line of sight

Reborn turns back towards the large glass window, his eyes focused far away in the distance. The glow of the rising sun, orange and yellow rays painting the room cast him into sharp relief. Aria's breath catches when she wakes up enough to notice that most everyone is gone. Even being the Sky Arcobaleno, probably _because_ she's the Sky Arcobaleno Aria knows being alone with Reborn in this stifling room spelled out nothing good for her. Verde watched on dispassionately as Aria shrunk down into herself. Looking more like a guilty thief then the self-possessed Donna she was supposed to be. It was.. disquieting to see. No Sky of theirs should ever look that way, not for anyone and not for any reason. Verde already knew this was going to be worse then he'd thought.

"I warned you."

Verde shivered as the room's aura got noticeably tenser at Reborn's words. Aria is completely silent. The sound of her clothes scraping against the couch she'd finally been placed on after she failed to wake up with the others was loud in the silent room. Her breathing was rapidly increasing.

"I warned you to be careful. Cautious. I _told you_ to find your Lightning and get Yuni back." Reborn says quietly, voice pitched conversationally. He still hasn't looked at her, face hidden in the shade of his fedora as he looks out towards their Cloud's vehicle. Verde wonders what Aria sees when she looks at this Reborn, the one she's never known. He knows what he sees in this man when Reborn changes just enough to be _wrong_. He wonders if it's different for everyone.

Aria shifts nervously but doesn't answer. Her rapid breathing is audible in the silence as is her quiet panicking and confusion. She doesn't understand what's going on but Verde knows she can feel that whatever it is its very, very bad. She twists around just far enough to catch sight of him hiding in the shadows that the rising sun casts. She pleads with her entire body, even going so far as to twist entirely in his direction, losing site of Reborn in the process. Verde knows he looks increasingly stone-faced but it's hard not to react to the feeling of Aria's tugging Sky Flames. He wonders how Reborn does it.

When Aria does try to speak it cracks in the middle, the same way it hadn't since her mother died on her sixteenth birthday and she was expected to take over the family. "I.. I, uh-" Before she can get anymore out Reborn cuts her off neatly.

"But you… you selfish little girl." Reborn says as if she had replied halfway decently. "After everything we've done for you, after Tsunayoshi gave you the chance to live your life anyway you wanted to, the Curse no longer a blade poised above your neck." Reborn says coldly. "You had to nerve to get greedy."

Verde shifts slightly to the side, it's the most he can get away with in this situation but it's enough to draw Aria's attention away from the large, contained threat in front of her. It's a mistake she regrets almost immediately when Reborn's next words are as sharp as the knives he doesn't carry.

"You just couldn't help but push for something that wasn't yours."

Aria hunches even more into herself. If she had anymore room she would look like she was cowering into the cushions. But that pitiful picture doesn't take away from the ugliness that twists her mouth with a bitterness thats so foreign on her pretty face it's unearving. "You should have been." She seethes out quietly her eyes shining with the gleam of the gold mad. "You should have been **_mine_ **."

Reborn doesn't spare her a glance and Verde knows where this is all going, he does, he'd just really hoped thought it hadn't been this _bad. "_ You were nothing but a placeholder, Aria." The Sky's face loses all color. She scrambles up from the couch, the thought of not being The One enough to break her of her fear temporarily. "You are _nothing_ like your mother _or_ your daughter. You are a selfish, self important, whiny _child."_ Every even word from Reborn's mouth looks like it hits her like a physical blow. Verde is getting sick of the Sky Flames clogging up room like cough syrup telling everyone even vaguely close by how very **Upset** a Sky was.

"That's not true!" Aria hands shift to grasp at her own arms, nails biting into skin. '"You _are_ mine, Reborn. **I** am the Arcobaleno Sky. Not my mother, not my daughter. Me." Her voice peaks hysterically. " **I** am your Donna, you **will** listen to me and stop this- this whatever it is!"

From his corner of the room Verde couldn't help but side-eye her in disbelief. ' _Had she really just…'_

"It was a Curse." Reborn says deliberately. The Hitman had still made no aggressive moves towards her, but just the feeling of his lightly brushing Flames was enough to burn out Aria's sticky one's from around both of the Elements and send a normally stable Sky into hysterical defense. If it had been anyone else in the room with Verde, they would both be on their knees already from all the Sky Flames filling up the room. Unfortunately for her, Reborn had never been normal.

Not by anyone's standards.

Finally turning from the window Verde could tell Aria expected anger or maybe disappointment. She'd never seen Reborn as anything other then her slightly sadistic uncle, but this Reborn was.. impassively cold. His eyes were staring straight at her for the first time since she had woken up but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

His Flames weren't so hard to understand unfortunately. Reborn's normally possessively clinging Flames told her _exactly_ what he thought about everything going on, he wasn't even trying to hid it. He didn't feel anything about this encounter. He didn't _care_ about what he was saying to her, how he was making her feel.

Just.. nothing.

This was the Reborn the mafia was so scared of. This unfeeling being in front of her.

"It was a Curse we all _hated."_ Reborn said deliberately. Leon, the same goofy reptile she'd known since childhood stared down at Aria with the same long stare he always had. But something about the chameleon right now _screamed_ wrong in the back of her head. He slowly climbed down towards Reborn's hand never once breaking his stare.

"Did Luce ever tell you what the Curse entailed, Aria?" She blinked back up at him uncomprehending. "No, I suppose she wouldn't, not after seeing what you'd do without that knowledge."

"What-" Aria whispred, "What do you mean? It's to keep the World in balance, right?"

Reborn smiled at her strangely, "Yes, The _Tri-Ne-Set_ is needed to keep the world in balance, but why _Curse_ us? Why not just tell all Flame Active's and have them offer up the Strongest out of them all as a necessary sacrifice? They could live out the rest of their lives as Heroes and Kings. Never wanting for anything; The Gods of the Mafia." Reborn tilted his head towards her for some type of answer, looking almost exactly like he had countless other times when he was teaching her something new. It added a freakishness to all of this, how a gesture Aria was intimately familiar with was being used.

"I, I don't know." Aria's voice sounded so very young with that one small sentence.

Reborn stared at her with that same not-smile. Verde knew his own expression must be twisted into something similar. "I know you don't. No one does. No one except your Mother; who died, Checker Face; who doesn't care about the ways of mortal men and…. us." Reborn tilted his head to look Aria in the eyes, a cruelly humorous expression on his face." We were supposed to tell you. We didn't."

 _'What_?' Verde could practically see the thoughts running through her head at that. She'd grown up learning everything there was to know about the Curse from her Mother. But if there was one disadvantage to being a Giglio Nero Donna that wasn't dying young, it was a bad habit of thinking you knew everything that there was to know.

"I was always curious about _why_ your mother never brought it up around you, why she never spoke to any of us about what to tell you when she died. Now I know it's because despite what she did, she still loved us all more than she cared about her duty towards you."

Verde himself almost flinched at the casual cruelty Reborn could use so well. Aria had never been on the receiving end of that side of Reborn before, so he knew she'd have no defense against him. Aria was almost the perfect target for Reborn's sadistic word games.

"That's not true.." She whispered. "My mother loved me."

The smile slipped off Reborn's face. He was once again as expressionless as a mannequin, the only hint of emotion was a quizzically arched eyebrow. "If that's true Aria… then why didn't she tell you that you could control us?"

Verde clenched his jaw and Reborn's eyes flashed to him lightning quick. Aria stood there uncomprehendingly. Her hands had stopped digging into her arms in surprise and she no longer shook quite so hard. This was all the coming to an end, "I don't understand."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You never did seem to get as much Earthling Blood in you as your mother and daughter did, but I am slightly disappointed." Aria's eyes blinked rapidly to try and keep the burgeoning tears inside." You truly never wondered why none of us tried to Harmonize with you?"

"No. I assumed it was grief over my mother's passing." she said weakly her lips pressed into a firm line as she darted a quick look towards Verde.

He snorted and eyed her condescendingly. "You really were in your own world then. No love was lost between us and your mother by the time she died. If you had actually been there you'd have known that."

"Verde." Reborn asked quietly. He hadn't turned towards him when he spoke but that small question was enough to remind him on why they were here doing this.

"Ah." Verde sighed unhappily, "Yes, right." And slunk over to stand at his side.

Aria's eyes followed Verde as he moved over towards Reborn. He didn't doubt that if he'd passed by her close enough she would have tried to snatch his arm and pull him over towards her. He probably wouldn't have been able to easily resist either due to all the Flames flying around and that wasn't something Reborn would be able to stand at the moment. It was better for all their sakes that he just didn't get within touching distance of the Sky.

"Becoming an Arcobaleno is a Curse for the Elements of the Sky for two reasons." Reborn continued unhurriedly once Verde was safely across the room. "The first is simple. The 'Sky' of the group can control the elements. The second? You will never be able to truly Harmonize with a Sky afterwards. Not the Arcobaleno Sky, not a civilian one, nothing. "

Reborn's black eyes drilled into Aria's shocked ones.

"You are forever denied a Home and _that_ is something no mentally sound element would ever be willing to give up. Not for all the riches in the world, and certainly not to save everyone else when they would _never_ understand what it was that sacrifice was giving up." Reborn's voice was resolute.

"But… if it was to save the world…"

Reborn let out a harsh laugh that filled the room and stopped Aria's words in their tracks. If her voice had been bitter earlier, Reborn's was spiteful in its viciousness. "Do you honestly think any of us would care about that? The Mafia, and the people in it, are inherently selfish beings; Flame Actives even more so. So to pit some vague horror compared to the certainty of never finding Home?" Reborn tells her simply. "It's **_nothing_ **."

Verde wants to be wrong, he wants her to understand, wants her to be shocked and horrified at what exactly they were all tricked into giving up. Want's Reborn's whispered words while all the others were arguing to be a mistake. But from the look on Aria's face he knows exactly what she thinks. Reborn catches it as well. How could he not? It's everything he'd told Verde earlier.

"Then your a fool, one who doesn't understand the meaning of having a Guardian if you think, for even a moment, that an Element wouldn't destroy the world for that chance at happiness ."

Verde can't help but stare at her blankly from beside Reborn. He'd been one of the closest to Bonding with her after the Curse had been broken. But to hear what she thought having an Element meant, to even imply it wasn't such a monumental sacrifice to lose the chance at having a Sky… It was everything Rebon had suspected of her and more. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as Skull leaving had but he can feel the sharp pain of being wrong on something so personally important to him.

It's Verde who says what they're all thinking numbly, "No wonder your guardians were so easily transferred to Yuni after your death, I'd be surprised if they were ever even your guardians to begin with." Reborn's Flames squeeze tightly against the back of his neck, the heat that the Sun can imitate when he wants an almost physical weight. While Reborn's heat had never been soft enough to be a called a comforting warmth, it was such a familiar searing burn that he relaxes anyways.

Aria had no answer to that. They all now knew those Elements hadn't been hers, not when all she'd ever wanted was the Arcobaleno. The only ones she could never have.

Reborn steps slightly in front of the shaken Lightning, "Go home, Aria. This is over. Your life is just beginning, have fun, do young adult things, protect your Family." He was bodily blocking Verde from the Sky's sight now. His voice darkened, "But don't.." Reborn bared his teeth in a fox like grin, one that spelled pain for everyone who saw it, "Don't contact us again until you have Yuni. This is an Arcobaleno problem. And you aren't one anymore."

Aria takes a physical step back. The tears she'd been trying to hold at bay falling down her cheeks, she looks beyond stricken. When she tries peer over Reborn's shoulder at Verde he refuses to make eye contact with her. No matter how much this all hurt, it was better for them all in the long run. He would stand by Reborn's decision.

When it looks like Aria won't leave, that she might fight even knowing how much of a bad idea that was Reborn bristles up like a cat. It was one thing to argue with him, but a completely different thing to do so after hurting the Lightning under his protection. Weak tendrils of Flame become visible in the shadowed room. They lash out against seemingly nothing in the air, Aria's own Sky Flames as fine as mist. But with every clash against each other sparks fly and the Sky twitches.

"You tried to force him further into your Sky." Reborn snarls. Another snap of his Flames and Aria shudders while her eyes grow impossibly wide. It's easy to see she didn't think he'd known about that. "Be grateful I respect your Mother enough that despite what she did to us, I don't inform the others on what you _tried_ to do."

Reborn's eyes glint maliciously. He looks _dangerous_ in the light of the burning sunrise staring at her. "Your Famillia wouldn't last the night." Where his teeth always that sharp? Had she just never noticed? What type of monster had she grown up under?

As the knowledge that the entire strength of the Arcobaleno would be used against her without question if this came out to the others sunk in the slowly, that dark feeling dragged them all down again. Aria sunk to her knees as an enormous pressure, something she hadn't ever felt before forced her face into the carpet. Her bones creaked in agony and Reborn was like a black sun in the center of it all. Aria could see, vaguely, that behind Reborn, Verde had fallen to his knees, then to his hands all while gasping air into his lungs like he couldn't breath.

Aria tries, oh how she tries to fight off the Sun Flames she can practically taste on her tongue with her own powerful Sky Flames. She tries to push at Reborn but it was like a breathing against a Black Hole. Everything she put into it to try and stop this, stop _him_ , just got sucked in.

She gagged at the feeling of her Flames almost being sucked out of her while she fought with them. _It_ \- _this_ \- _whatever_ he was doing felt like she was fighting against nature _itself_ and trying to **_win_**. But that was impossible, _this_ was all _impossible_ , no one had Flames like these, _no one_ _had Flames this strong! She was the SKY!_

It's only when Verde himself makes a noise of hidden pain that the pressure relents, the dark miasma like feeling of the Flames Reborn summoned effortlessly dissipating like it had never existed. It was suddenly just gone. Reborn was no longer the _Strongest Flame User in the World; True Leader of the Arcobaleno_ , but back to being simply _The Greatest Hitman; Tutor to The Vongola Decimo_. Aria had always thought the first title an exaggeration. Uncle Reborn was strong, of course, but Strongest in the World? It just sounded tacky. But not after today. No, after today she knew that he'd earned that title. Every syllable of it was justified. Terrifyingly so.

"I blame you for this more than anyone." Aria can't move from the floor when Reborn speaks after that. She's frozen in fear that he'll do it again if she tries. "Leave."

Aria fled from the room.


	7. Chapter 7

The door slams shut, a resounding bang that coats Verde's mouth with a sour taste. Aria won't be back for a few weeks at the least. She knows better than not listening to one of Reborn's orders, no matter how harshly it was given. He hates that it's come to this but everything has to be just right if they want to be able to get their Cloud back under control long enough to try and fix everything. It doesn't mean he has to enjoy the steps.

Turning away Verde takes an annoyed breath and fixes his perfectly straight glasses. "That was harsh, even for you." It's obvious why it had to be done, but just watching Reborn strip away the girl's confidence was painful, not to mention completely unfair to her.

Reborn scoffs from where he's still watching the door Aria fled from. "She shattered the small amount of peace we had when she tried to force further harmonization with us all. If she'd been any type of _good_ Sky she'd have know she couldn't keep _you_ contained under her Sky, much less the rest of us." Reborn shuts his eyes, rubbing at them distractedly. He looks tired, Verde notices for the first time since Skull ran away. Tired and sad.

That she started with _Skull_ Reborn doesn't say, but Verde hears anyways. They both know if Aria would have started this with anyone else Reborn would never have disowned her and striped her so throughly of all her influence on them, if for no other reason then Yuni.

Verde doesn't want to make this worse for the Sun but he can't deny he also feels a small level of cruel anticipation for Reborn's pain. They all drove Skull away, Verde knows that, but it's also undisputed that Reborn has _always_ been the main reason why Skull avoided them. So he can't help but add, "It's still Luce's daughter, Reborn." He knows the other man already knows this and while normally he hates having to repeat obvious information, this time it needs to be actively acknowledged.

Reborn doesn't disappoint with his snapped reply. "It's entirely _because_ she's Luce's daughter that she should know better." He said simply. "She was raised knowing she couldn't have us, maybe she didn't know why but she knew it wasn't possible. She has no excuse."

But Verde wouldn't be satisfied until Reborn understands exactly what he's trying to say, "She may have been raised to _act_ as our Sky but she was still a child when we all.. when Skull changed. She couldn't have known you'd go this far from her pushing for the impossible." Verde wants to reach out to the Sun, wants to help him in some way because even with all their differences and all their fights, they still understand each other better then any of the others ever had.

Their cut from the same cloth, Reborn and him. Both bastards who _thought_ more than they'd ever admit to _feeling_ and feeling more than they'd ever show. It wasn't hard to to understand each other.

Because while all the Arcobaleno were criminals, it was only the two of them who had ever really been involved in wet works. Reborn was an asshole through and through, but he was also someone Verde would trust at his back. Just as long as he wasn't emotionally compromised like he seemed to be now.

Glancing Skull's ( _his_ ) old bike out of the corner of his eye, Verde could almost see all the places that'd been dented, all the places where he'd helped to push out the metal over the years. He couldn't help but think he also might be compromised due to this situation. " _You're_ pushing she imitated."

Reborn's tilts his fedora down to try and hide his eyes, but it does nothing to cover his tensing jaw. "….I miscalculated." Reborn said shortly. And ah, that does makes sense, the Sun hated to admit to _any_ type of mistake made on his part.

What should be his response? "It's unlike you to admit to that." He tries first, when Reborn doesn't respond in any perceivable way he goes with a different tactic. "..How badly?"

That gets a response he was not, in any way, expecting. "He wasn't planning on breaking apart from us." Reborn says then clamps his jaw shut hard at whatever look is on Verde's face.

' _What? Of course he was going to leave, that was the whole issue! The idiot had jumped ship again at the worst possible time. If he'd just held on a little longer-"_ But no, Verde had to stop thinking those types of thoughts, they didn't help in figuring out what to do now because no matter why or what happened the result was Skull being gone.

Reborn shifts further towards him without looking away from his face, the burning line of his arm brushing up against Verde's lab coat. "He _was_ going to leave. I could tell by the look in his eyes when he saw me." Reborn stops abruptly again.

Verde can't help but wait impatiently when Reborn quiets again. How hard can it be to talk about what happe- oh. Yes, well.. It would be quite hard for Reborn to talk about this. He should try to be more… sympathetic. Ugh.

"And then?"

Reborn's hand, out of no-wear, curls around Verde's arm tightly. If they were any other men he'd swear it was for comfort. But something about the gleam in Reborn's black, black eyes says something very different is going on. "….I wouldn't let him go. I told him what I thought he wanted to hear and the next thing I know we're screaming at each other and he's inside a giant ball of wood I couldn't break through."

That sentence stops Verde in his mental tracks. All that's starts running through his head is _What?_ "A.. giant wooden _ball_? You said the same thing earlier but- Reborn that doesn't make any _sense_. "

Reborn wasn't listening to him anymore though. Caught in the memory he continued gleefully. "He Propagated the wood into something so hard I couldn't break through. It couldn't even be classified as 'wood' anymore. _Nothing_ would break it. Not _Leon_ , not my _Flames_ , _**nothing**_."

"But Skull barely has any idea how to use his Flames." Verde spluttered unwillingly in denial. "I would know with how thoroughly I- we- _he_ was tested. All he has is his 'immortality!' "

Reborn snaps his eyes back to Verde and his smile is maliciously possessive. "Your not _listening_ , Verde. I couldn't break through." Reborn waits for that to sink in, the hand on Verde's arm where Reborn's grasping it digs in. " _ **Me**_."

Verde swallows nervously. Reborn's released the iron control of his Flames slightly, leaving them to burn around the lightning in pleased pulses. Dangerous and beautiful. "I've killed hundreds of thousands of people. To meet me during the Flame Wars was to court Death. What Skull did shouldn't have just been impossible, even more then breaking our bonds, It should have been so out of the realm of possibility it could be considered a miracle."

Reborn's other hand comes up to grasp the nape of Verde's neck, forcing him to really listen to Reborn's words. To take them, and all their implications in. "You should have seen him. He was _breathtaking_. If Skull had used those Flames during the Arcobaleno Trials he would have been able to match me head on. It was… dangerous. _Chaotic."_ Reborn finishes rapturously.

This was… this was insane. Skull knowing how to use his Flames? Knowing this entire time and none of them having any idea? It was ludicrous. There was just no way. "And the… dreamscape you made Viper drag you both into?" Verde's hand rose to clench onto Reborn's for some type of anchor in this whirlwind conversation.

For once Reborn had no problem sharing information. He seemed almost proud of the knowledge. "Confirmation that it wasn't a fluke. That I was _right_."

 _Purple eyes spitting vitriol and acid towards him, a long body he'd spent to many one night stands imagining, and a strength that he'd never truly expected from Skull, even with all his pushing._

"No one equals _me_. No one ever has and we all thought no one ever would." He continued with an arrogance that would have normally had Verde's back up in offense, but just made him uncomfortable with how close they were with each other. He really wished Reborn would release him. Physical touch was uncomfortable normally, this was just excessive. "Reborn, I don't think…"

"I knew he was stronger then he acted, we all did, but I never thought he'd actually go that far to hide it. After seeing what he can _do_ with his Flames… He collapsed Vipers dream sequence before they wanted it. Viper is the Strongest Mist in the world right now, that's not something people just _do_." He murmured distracted, seemingly to himself despite Verde literally being within his hands. "I don't understand him. Why he's hidden it, why he's let everything that's happened happen. I don't _know_." Reborn, the freak, actually looked delighted at that realization.

And Verde couldn't take it anymore. He wrestled himself out of Reborn's grasp and turned to point accusingly at the Sun. "You know how he is, you simpleton! Of course he would do something that shouldn't be possible if _your_ the one confronting him! You two, I swear you're both like Azidoazide Azide when put together."

The mood shifted to a lighter note after that and Reborn thankfully let it happen. Verde had some things he had to come to terms with after learning how very _strong_ Skull actually was and being attached to Reborn while he obsessed was not the place or time. If Skull had always been this strong.. it put many things between him and Skull into a very different light. All those dark nights between them. What did they mean with this new information?

Reborn's scoff thankfully pulled him out of his darkening thoughts before he could really get into them.

"We are not that bad."

Verde smirked at his disbelieving face, "You definitely are. Do you not remember the mission in China? Fon wouldn't talk to _either of you_ for weeks."

Reborn sniffed imperiously but Verde could see the small uptick of the corners of his mouth. " I seem to recall that mission going extremely well."

Verde relaxed even further, "Oh yes, of course. Especially after you threatened the Emperors son."

Reborn twitched at the thought of the pretty heir apparent that had chased after Skull the entire time they'd been there. Just like every time the story was told. "Luce would have been very upset if we had left Skull there to ruin the relations between the Mafia and Triads."

Poking at Reborn's crush never got old. Not in all the years they'd known each other. "Luce would have understood. Skull himself would have been overjoyed if they way he was looking at the prince was any indication." It was honestly one of the only things all the Arcobaleno would bond over.

Reborn hmphed like a teenage girl, not that he'd ever admit to it. "It would have been an insult to the emperors house. The Lackey isn't anywhere _near_ pretty enough for that kids harem."

The lengths this man would go to… "The "kid" seemed happy enough until you put a gun to his head and shot his knee out when he tried to grab Skull back from your choke hold."

"He touched my hat."

Verde sighed, lips pursing so not to smile, thinking back on that "horrible" mission. "Only because you forced it down over Skull's eyes so he couldn't fight back. _I_ know, _you_ know he was grabbing for Skull."

"All speculation."

"Skull wouldn't stop whining about it for weeks."

They both softened slightly thinking on their missing teammate. With how long they're all been together it might be more appropriate to call Skull their soulmate. With how much it hurt when he tore himself away from them, it felt like he'd taken a little bit of their souls with him when he left. "We have to get him back, Reborn. I might not ever be able to make it up to him but… the least I can do is protect him as much as he'll let me."

"..I know. I'll find him." Reborn said lowly.

But that's not what he'd meant. " _We'll_ find him. He's all of ours after all." It wouldn't do to put all the pressure on Reborn when he was already stretched so thin.

Reborn's eyes lifted towards Verde's, expression as soft as it ever got away for Tsunayoshi. "We'll find him."

Verde turned away from Reborn to look out the window at Skulls bike once more time."You have to tell him, Reborn. I know it didn't matter when were all infants. When we thought we'd die like that but.." he could feel his throat tight up. "It can't go on like this any longer. Whatever this is, wherever this goes, it's got to stop."

Verde swallows roughly at the gleam of purple in the yard then turned and left the room.

Reborn, completely alone at last, stands motionless in front of the desk with all their information on Skull's wearabouts, hands clenched against the wood leaving sizzling prints, before, in a rush of rage, he swipes all of the items off it. Cell phones and electronics go flying, shattering on impact with the ground and walls. Maps and papers split down the middle or burn in spots Reborns hand touched before floating down to the floor, different glasses shatter into hundreds of small pieces.

Reborn presses his forehead against the cool glass of the window pan and squeezes his eyes shut. The place where that most treasured bond used to be _aches_.

"I know _."_

 _Let's cause a little trouble_  
 _Oh, you make me feel so weak_  
I bet you kiss your knuckles  
Right before they touch my cheek

Verde stands in the hall listening to Reborn's short tantrum and stares at nothing. So much has changed in such a short amount of time, the knowledge that Skull _allowed_ him do so those…. things to him, when he could have killed Verde at any point was hard to swallow.

Impossible to comprehend.

 _The Immortal Skull_. A title Skull'd had even before Checker Face had dropped him on the others. A title Verde had made sure was true before he'd ever known Skull was supposed to be the Cloud in their Sky. A title Skull _hated_. He had so many titles he hated, not that the others had ever noticed with how often he flung them around.

 _Skull; The Man Hated by Death_ _Himself._ A title that was so far from the actual truth it was laughable. But one that had become so common in the Mafia none of the Children who grew up hearing it so much as questioned what it _meant_.

 _The Hitman Reborn, to know him was to know_ _ **Death** __._

Verde laughed horsley to himself, "Ridiculous. The both of them." Fixing his glasses Verde ignored the wetness lingering in his eyes. "And all of us who forgot that stupid title was twofold."

 _But I've got my mind, made up this time_  
' _Cause there's a menace in my bed  
Can you see his silhouette?_

Skull can still feel him.

It's been days, almost a full week since he escaped that hell hole and _he could still feel him_ and it wasn't fucking _fair_. He'd done everything he could to distance himself from them, used every ounce of his Flames to burn out that fucking leash, used his Dying Will to just get free.

And because of fucking _Reborn_ he was still tethered to all of them.

Skull screamed out in unholy rage. The forest he'd stopped in when he'd finally recognized what all these feeling still inside him where was gone. Miles around him in every way were filled with emptiness. He'd almost completely lost it, wanted something to hurt as much as he was, wanted something somewhere to feel the sheer rage that boiled in his blood. It hurt. Everything hurt. Thinking hurt, missing them hurt, his own Flames hurt from when he'd torn into them to try and do anything to get rid of that hand print.

Burying his face in his hands Skull cried alone in a decimated forest as he tried to think of what to do, fully convinced that life just wasn't fucking fair.

Because he'd need a Sky. Someone who know more about this bullshit then he did. Because that's what this was, fucking Flame bullshit in the shape of a handprint.

He… didn't have anyone to go to. Like hell he'd tell the _Varia_ he was vulnerable right now, Enma and his family were all Earth Flame users, all of his friends were either civilians who had no idea about Flames or petty criminals that wouldn't be able to help him and going to the Vongola was just stupid.

 _Vongola_ …

He… he _knew_ Reborn didn't he? Knew how that man's mind worked better than anyone's unfortunately. He'd want to get Vongola's help. But _Viper_..

Viper was _Varia_. Viper was _Varia_ and _possessive._ They wouldn't want to share, and what had the Varia been searching for?

A Cloud. A _free_ Cloud, like Skull was now. (More or less anyways.)

There'd be no way Viper would want the Varia anywhere _near_ him right now. Not when they think of all the Arcobaleno as _theirs_. So.. so Viper would probably convince the others to not relay on Vongola's help and as far as they knew Viper was his closest friend.

 _Tsunayoshi owed him a favor._

Was he.. Was he actually going to go to Reborn's staunchest allies and demand they get his hand-print shaped brand off Skull's ankle? Was he really that desperate?

 _Yes_. _Yes, he really fucking was._

To Vongola it was then, and if he was wrong and Viper hadn't been able to convince Reborn to not go to his most powerful student..

Skull smiled ominously. None of them had _any_ idea just how capable and willing he was to keep this freedom.

But first…

He needed to pay his respects one last time.

 _And I've got my mind, made up this time_  
 _Go on and light a cigarette, set a fire in my head  
Set a fire in my head, tonight_

 _Elsewhere_

Tsunayoshi Sawada, now known largely as Tsunayoshi _Vongola_ , Tenth Don of the Vongola Famiglia dropped to his knees in the middle of a meeting with a rival Family. Giant tears fell down his cheeks as he choked somethings about _Insane_ _Skulls_ _coming to kill him_ before passing over in a dead faint.

The Decimo's Cloud Guardian instantly flipped the center table through a window the moment his Boss went down ( presumably to take the attention off his said unconscious boss) and all hell broke loose.

Later, when Tsuna woke up he found out, no, it was _not_ all just a dream, his Intuition was still insisting _Skulls (what does that even mean?!)_ were coming to make sure he died in the crossfire between fleeing _Freedom_ and chasing _Chaos_.

And that he needed to restock the liquor cabinet.

 _And_ put lube in every possible corner of the manor if he didn't want to be woken up (or walk into- or stumble upon- or be yelled at when- or be _dragged into_ \- but he was ignoring that part. He was _determinedly_ ignoring that part.) in the middle of the night from people ( _Multiple!_? _What the fuck was going to happen to have more than_ _one-)_ rummaging around in his nightstand table.

Also, that he apparently owns the Rival Families ( who he was pretty sure he'd been trying to get to join the Alliance peacefully. ) stuff. Like, all of it. All of the stuff.

Wasn't there a table here earlier?

 _Would you lie for me?  
Cross your sorry heart and hope to die for me?_

 _Would you pin me to a wall?_  
 _Would you beg or would you crawl?  
Stick a needle in your hungry eyes for me?_

—

 _Hmm, when you met me, when you met me  
You told me you were gonna get me._

 _(A.U. So. Recently a guest caught something no one else had yet. What Reborn did in the dream sequence, while very hot, was sexual assault._

 _Maybe in the future something like that would be ok between them (they are both very kinky individuals in my story) but rn? It really wasn't. Skull did not want it._

 _Reborn isn't a complete monster tho. He's Mafia but he's not a rapist. What Reborn did was to hopefully, send Skull into a rage so he could see if Skull could actually control his Flames to the degree he did when he ripped their bonds out. It was a cruel, horrible test._

 _But that was all it was_

 _(And it worked!)_

 _Believe me when I say, Reborn knows consent is sexy. And while there might be some dub-ish content later when Reborn tries to Seduce™ Skull, please remember this is a fanfiction. Everything is 100% consensual unless otherwise stated. Skull is just as in love (maybe) with Reborn as Reborn is with him. But it's gonna take a long, long while before anything happens. They have a lot of issues to get through first._

 _Edit: MULTIPLE PEOPLE HAVE CAUGHT THIS._


	8. Chapter 8

_Everything is grey  
His hair, his smoke, his dreams  
And now he's so devoid of color  
He don't know what it means_

In the hours it takes Skull to drive through the forest to his only home, he doesn't say a word. The silence, heavy and knowing, follows him between trees and down roads that haven't been traveled in years. Not since he'd been here that horrible, changing day.

The bird song quieted when he passed by, morphing from a happy chirp at his arrival to a mournful caw, welcoming, warning of him. The animals he'd ran with as a child; wolves, bears, baggers, foxes, a wild creature equal only to them- untamed and unworried- stood beside the road to watch him with unblinking eyes. The Wildling King had come home at last, returned to his kingdom at his very lowest.

The wind fell still when he choked out call to the past, to his family, and also to the quivering air of his past-territory. The dead trees, including the cursed ground itself yearned towards him with brambles and death filled flowers. With every step and each loss of boot and sock, every footprint that the moss caressed he— _breathed_.

It still smelled the same.

Like home, like failure, like the end of his life and the beginning of something worse than his death.

Skull sat down in the middle of where his home ( _his terr_ _ **itORY**_ —) used to be and tried not to crumble in on himself. Why was he even here? What was the point? Closure? There was no closure for this, it was a wound that would never heal . Every time someone shot at him how he wasn't a 'normal' Cloud like a weapon it ripped open that wound so much more.

He was a _Cloud_.

He'd had a territory, he'd had his Flames free, his people, he'd had everything that made a Cloud what they _were_. He protected them, he closeted them and he watched over them all even as a child. They were _his_ and he'd have done _anything_ for _any one_ of them.

Then he'd killed them all.

It'd been an accident. He knows it's not his fault. Knows anyone of his Family's Flames could have done the same if only in a smaller area of effect. He _knows_ that. Knows that they wouldn't blame him, that they loved him.

But he'd _destroyed_ his _Territory_.

He'd devastated the forest around his home, killed the plants, poisoned the lake. The house hadn't even had a stone base to tell where it'd once stood. There had been no blood, no bodies, nothing left but the memories that he'd had people to protect and he'd _killed them all._

"I miss you." Skull whispered to the dirt as he held his head in his hands, his bangs falling forward to cover his un-makeuped face. "I miss you all _so much_."

The silence echoed around him.

"I don't know what to do now.. I'm done with The Mafia, well, as much as you can be done with the Mafia," a shaky laugh, "and I know I can't just go crawl in a hole and die, you'd all be so angry with me if I did. I'd never get any peace in the afterlife."

Skull looked at the sky desperately, one of the only things his Flames hadn't burned that day. It was still so much more beautiful here than anywhere else he'd ever been.

"I know you'd all want me to live and be happy. You'd want me to go out, meet people, enjoy things until the day I get to meet you all again." He swallowed harshly, "But what's the point when you have no one to share it with? What's the point in living your life when no one cares if you live or die? How am I supposed to do this alone?"

Skull tipped over sideways and curled up into himself, his arms hugging his knees to chest. A poor imitation of the physical bond he missed terribly.

" _я просто хочу домой."_

 _And he's blue_

It's late into the following afternoon when Skull finally arrives at the historical Vongola mansion. The building's grand, he can't deny that. But even better, it radiates the happiness of a well loved, well protected Sky. It's no wonder he'd had to dodge dozens of roving guards just to get this close with how well-contented Tsuna Flames feel. Any one of the guards he'd encountered, if they'd found him, wouldn't have hesitated to kill him out of suspicion or paranoia. Probably both, just for good measure.

Unluckily for them (and everyone actually), Skull was a consummate actor. One of the best in the business. At least he'd used to be the best in the business before they'd all gotten turned into toddlers and he'd been kicked to the curb of his profession without so much as a 'good luck!' by everyone he'd once called friend.

Not that it should have surprised him. Hollywood was cruel. It would take you at your best then spit you out after it's taken every ounce of talent you had.

That thought spurs his already acidic mood down into something that could melt steel if he tried hard enough. Thinking about what that fucking curse cost him always enraged him to an almost mindless fury. How he'd been trapped with nowhere to go, no friends or allies he could trust, and thrown into a _magical crime syndicate_ of all things where he was told to suck it up or die.

Since Skull had no desire to die whatsoever, he figured it out. Just like he always did. He may have not flourished, but he'd survived. He'd survived when anyone else in his place would have died, would have given up and became something they weren't.

Skull could see the window that the Vongola Decimo's office had. Horrible safety precaution, they were practically asking for someone to come and snipe their boss but handy for a wily Cloud to climb up to.

Looking around from his cover, Skull couldn't spot any more patrols coming this way and if he'd timed it right he'd have just enough time to climbed up the side of the building before the next one was due. So with one last look and one behind him just in case, Skull sprinted for the wall of the mansion. With a quiet heave Skull jumped to latch onto the first of six balconies. With a quick thank you to God and Jeremy, who he'd picked up urban free climbing from when he was still toddler sized, Skull hooked one foot into the balconies edge and stood up to reach the next.

This went on for a good amount of time as Skull slowly but surely made his way up to the window he needed. Twice, two different patrols came by, forcing Skull to duck wherever he was and hope that his dark clothes helped him blend in with the shadows enough that they couldn't spot him, and twice the patrols left quickly.

He'd only almost fallen once, halfway up the climb when he'd glanced into one of the windows and caught site of Yamamoto and Gokudera heavily making out inside. The only reason he hadn't been caught there and then when he'd stopped and gapped at them for precious, _stupid_ seconds, was because the two were way too involved with each other to have any idea what was going on around them. Also a safety hazard but they were still young, they'd learn the first time someone tried to assassinate them in their rooms to always keep an eye out, even in the most relaxed or intimate of moments.

Climbing up again, Skull swore to put it out of his mind, forget he ever saw anything and never speak of it again. He had no desire to embarrass either of them, if only to save his own skin from the Vongola's own special brand of crazy. He needed this mark-thing off, _not_ to be dragged into the insanity inducing friendship-pit the Decimo was forever trapped inside of. He had enough crazy himself, thank you. Getting anyone else's would be overkill.

Finally reaching the balcony he needed, Skull peaked In between the bars that circled the thing so no one fell off, to check and see if Tsunayoshi was actually there or if he'd have to search the mansion itself for the young Don.

He really, really didn't want to have to search the mansion himself. ( _The last time…. hadn't turned out well for his virtue. Or what we left of it.)_

He's in luck! Seems Tsunayoshi had some paperwork to catch up on, since the Don was sitting behind his desk chin on top of his papers staring straight at him.

Skull almost lost his handle on the balcony when that registered. With a scowl at being caught so easily and a much to world weary sigh for this situation Skull heaved himself over the barrier itself since it seemed he'd been expected.

This conversation was going to be.. humiliating.

—

Skull looked haggard.

It was the first thought Tsuna had when the Cloud showed up at his door. Or technically, his balcony window. But with the type of Guardians he had that specific window could theoretically be called a door with how much use everyone got out of it. It was so heavily guarded by his own Guardian's constant use it hadn't ever been a true security threat. The one time an assassin had actually tried to use it, he'd ran straight into Belphegor mid-climb, who'd been coming to give Tsuna some paperwork from Xanxus's latest rade.

They hadn't tried again after that.

But the Arcobaleno Cloud…

The Cloud looked bad.

His eyes had that to fever bright alertness of someone who hadn't slept in days. His clothes were dirty and stained with mud, his hair was greasy and unwashed with small bits a leaves sticking out from the purple mess.

(Tsuna was conscious of the birds nest of his own hair, alright? So if _he_ was the one calling hair out like that something had gone horribly wrong)

He was twitching slightly, his hands and shoulders trembling then going completely still before they started to shake subtly again. He was stalking around the room, never giving any one place too much of his attention before he was turning rigidly back the other way.

Tsuna truthfully had no idea what to do with this Skull. He wasn't the fun loving coward he'd known in the past, nor was the the rampaging, psychotic Cloud he'd been in the Future-That-Never-Was. This Skull was on the edge of some cliff, teetering back and forth from one extreme to the next with little warning. His intuition wasn't helping much either, the only warning it had for him warning was that Skull also had no idea who he was at the moment.

"Skull." Tsuna paused and took a calming breath, "Did you.. need something from me?" He tried hesitantly. He wanted to help the man who was so important to his mentor (His Intuition told him so weepily. It was beyond strange, even stranger then this situation since it'd never done that before..) but he wasn't sure how to do it with the Skull in front of him.

"Yes!" Skull exploded from across the room at him, turning from the wall he'd been murdering with his eyes to glare down at the seated Sky instead. "Of course I need something from you! Why else would I be here? Why else would I _ever_ fucking come here?"

The tension between them rose substantially. Tsuna slowly placed his hands together above his desk, eyeing Skull with tribulation. "I'm not exactly sure why you would come here either, unless it's for some type of help" His voice, normally so soft and submissive when he wasn't screeching his head off, took on the some tone he used with the other Bosses. Cold, and achingly profesional.

Skull glared done at him fiercely, with a quick step he was before the seated Decimo and slamming his hands down into the centuries old desk. With a slow glance down a full three second flick of his eyes, Tsuna could stare at smoking fingerprints bearing into the wood of his desk. Languidly raising his eyes back up to stare at Skull more neutrally then before, the on-edge Cloud started to speak; Or more plainly, started to bite out the words, with how much they physically pained him to let go of.

"You owe me a favor, Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna's lips twitched down as his entire face smoothed into a blank mask, "You're correct, Cloud Arcobaleno. I due owe you a favor. You remember the rules for it?"

Skull snarled out the words, "Something that is within your power to give, borrow, cheat or steal, that won't be a threat to your family and that won't come back to be used against you." Skull unstuck his fingers from the desk and stepped back. Reciting the 'rules' like one would the ingredients on the back of a cake box. "I was there when we made them. You do remember that, right?"

Tsuna hummed, "Just making sure." Reaching down below his desk Tsuna took out a folder with Skull's name on it along with a expensive looking pen. "So what do you what?"

Skull grimaced and for the first time since showing up uninvited looked vaguely uncomfortable instead of pissed.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow, something he'd learned from Chrome that was seriously helpful in times like these. "Skull? I need to know so we can get started and I can get back to my paperwork." He couldn't help but add under his breath, " _Unfortunately_."

"You're a Sky." Skull blurted out after an uncomfortable few moments, some type of emotion clouding his eyes in defeat.

"Yes Skull, I'm definitely a Sky." Tsuna said as patiently as he could at the moment. "If I hadn't been I would never have been made Decimo. You know that, as well"

"Of course I know that! It's just.." Skull swallowed harshly and turned sharply around. "Have you ever heard of something like a Flame brand?"

Tsuna frowned, his suddenly amber eyes staring hard into Skull's back. "A Flame Brand?"

"Yeah. Something where you can almost… force a bond? Or at least still vaguely feel what thei- their feeling?" The Cloud said haltingly . "Like, pushing your Flames into or onto someone else too. I don't know, keep them when they try to break a Harmonization?"

Tsuna frowned harder, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, "That doesn't sound like a real thing at all. I know about sealing, being an unlucky victim of that myself, but forcing a Bond that's already been broken?" Tsuna shook his head," If the breaking of the Bonds didn't kill them all I don't know how you would be able to force your Flames into someone else when even their Dying Will was ready to extinguish itself to free the person."

Skulls lips twisted sourly where he stared up at the wall he'd been looking at since he started to actually talk. Tsuna could already tell this wasn't at all what the Cloud wanted to hear when he showed up today.

"Well, looks like I'm not the only one who can do the impossible, since your hellish tutor did just that a couple days ago." Skulls voice could have been called fondly amused if it wasn't for the soul deep weariness the underlined everything he did.

Tsuna looked gobsmacked, " _Reborn_ did something like that?"

The slightly softer looked Skull'd been wearing vanished in a fraction of an instant, "Of course Reborn did it! Who else would care enough about keeping me collared other then him? That ass couldn't be normal if it _punched_ _him in the face_ point blank!"

Before Tsuna has time to respond, or do anything else really about the renewed pissed off Strongest Cloud trapped with him in a small room, his own Cloud comes swooping in out of nowhere without a sound.

Tsuna has seen some weird reactions to being surprised in the Mafia before. He's seen people try to murder others, cower down, he's seen fight or flight in every conceivable way you could possibly imagine, but this is the first time he's seen some throw someone else out the window.

It makes the situation even more surreal when you realize it's Hibari Kyoya being thrown out the fifth floor window by Skull, the Arcobaleno's widely known 'Weakest' member.

They both freeze after the deed is already done.

Skulls face is a picture of What The Fuck Did I Just Do, and Tsuna has no desire whatsoever to go check on his own Cloud.

They both hear a soft thump.

Skulls face loses all color and Tsuna-

Tsuna hears a faint cry of 'Voooooooi' down below them before the sound of gunshots going off. Very loud, very distinctive gunshots. The floor below them shakes and Tsunayoshi Sawada decides now is the time to make a strategic retreat.

With the self-confidence of a man who went up against basically a god when he was a pre-teen and won, he grabbed Skull by his grimy arm and drags him away from the dangerously open window.

He already has too much paperwork to deal with as it is.

—-

Skull stared incredulously at the room he was stuck in for the night. It looked like the Decimo had seemingly tried to change the overly pretensions space to look more home-ey and failed.

He had no idea how he'd gotten here, in this room, at this moment in time.

He'd had a plan, right? Get to the Vongola, force the Decimo to fix his ankle or rue the day he'd ever promised Skull a favor, then fuck off to who knows where and-

Something. He didn't know what but _something_ came after that. ( _Something had to come after that, right?)_

Instead, he'd gotten into a weird argument(?) with the Decimo where he'd been the only one yelling, the Decimo had looked more like Reborn then anyone would have ever wanted while he stared down imperiously at Skull, and he'd thrown fucking _Hibari Kyoya_ out the goddamn _window_.

How did any of this happen?

But Skull was tired, he'd been roughing it for a while and that weird tacky bed was calling to him. With a staggering walk that showed just how drained the Cloud was from everything, he basically collapsed into the bed, fully dressed. When his head it the first pillow he'd felt in what seemed like weeks, he couldn't help but close his eyes and hope to sleep for the forcible future. Just for a few hours.

Instead, completely against his will, he pictured the others faces. Their emotions, their reactions. What they were doing and if they were still looking for him.. if they were even looking at all.

He remembered the bad times—

 _ **(In a Hotel Room, in Venice, Italy. Twenty-nine years ago.)**_

Skull wakes up to a light touch smoothing over the beauty marks on his back. A long, slow drag of clever fingertips that dig in slightly when they notice Skulls awake.

Skull didn't want to turn over. He really didn't. It's obvious who's behind him ( _again, his mind can't help but snicker)_ drawing that strong hand down his flank to grip possessively on his opposite hip.

"Good morning, _bello."_ A sweet ( _deceptive_ ) kiss is pressed to the back of his neck, teeth pressing in when Skull doesn't reply. "Did I really wear you out so thoroughly?"

Skull grits his teeth before sitting up abruptly. Of course, the action doesn't inconvenience the other man at all. When Skull turns to glare not believing that this has happened _again,_ the Sun is sitting back against the headboard an entirely Italian cigarette in his hand, shirt and pantless, wearing a sly smirk while he looks Skull over with dark, sun scorched eyes.

Skull can't help but blush, naked in front of the eyes of the Mafia's biggest predator. He wants to _go_ , wants to know why this _keeps happening,_ but he knows Reborn enough by now, after almost a year of them being forced together, that the man isn't going to just let him leave without trying something.

But if Skull was anything, he was stubborn.

Without a word Skull got up off the bed, feeling Reborn's eyes staring at his ass hungrily he jerked the sheet off to twirl around his waist. Reborn chuckled behind him but didn't do anything else, continuing to stare.

When Skull started rummaging around trying to find his clothing,

Reborn finally spoke, voice purring out and _doing_ something to Skulls insides, "What are your plans today, darling? I'll be in town for a bit," a sharp, playful tug on his sheet stopped him from moving any farther away then he already had. "Come, see _Dido and Aenea_ with me."

Skull shivers. That tone of voice was always… "No," he jerks the sheet away from from Reborn's grip. The silence from behind him was heavy with inflection.

"I have to leave, soon, _today_ ," a slight hesitation, "..I won't be back for a while."

Skull barely gets the words out before a strong, Flame enhanced hand is grabbing his arm and dragging him back into the bed. Reborn looms above him, glaring eyes dark as ink and mouth tense, his tone though was what made Skulls instincts, hidden as they were in the core of himself, rise up in indignation. "Where, exactly, will you be disappearing to _again_ , Lackey?"

Skull's mouth twitches trying to form a snarl before he catches himself, it's enough for Reborn to notice, since Reborn _always_ notices the small tells he can't push down fast enough, but he _does_ push it down. Deep, deep down. He's doesn't deserve it yet, not yet.. but when he finally does, he's gonna tear Reborn's tongue out through his goddamn _teeth._

" _Aaaaaaahhhhhh!_ Reborn-Sempai! Skull-Sama can't tell you his secrets! What if you become better then him?!" Skull absolutely _wails_ in Reborn's face, tears blubbering down his face and his body wiggling frantically. "What will he do? You can't have them!"

In the back of Skulls mind, where he sits and waits and mourns, he can see the moment Reborn says fuck it. It's as glorious as it always is, when Skull can _make_ Reborn leave him alone when he _knows_ Reborn doesn't really want to. It's a power trip, almost. _He_ can make the Great Reborn back off, even if it's only from annoyance, he still _leaves_.

Or, well, he makes Skull leave.

Skull gets kicked out of the hotel room they'd rented last night, sans clothes, his wallet and helmet but with a sharp sense of satisfaction.

" _Get out." Two words, blankly spoken, dripping with overpowering disdain and quiet hurt._

' _My pleasure.' Two words, thought bitterly, with howling dislike and hidden pain._

— and the good.

 _(_ ** _Ballroom, days before the final mission. 11:54 pm.)_**

The atmosphere in the ballroom that night was light and slightly seductive.

Skull was the only one on the dance floor. Not that it'd matter if anyone else was sharing it with him, as all eyes men and women alike, were glued to the enticing site.

Dressed in a long black dress with a slit up the side all the way to his thigh and a backless top, Skull wore one of the most understated dresses at the ball but it drew everyone's attention to the exotic man. For either the forbiddenness of a man wearing a dress at all to the highly masculine Mafia party or simple because his dancing in the dress was almost too hypnotic.

He wore no jewelry other then the piercings he was known for and a small ankle bracelet no one could see but everyone heard in the awed silence every time he turned.

He danced like he knew everyone was watching him and _relished_ in it. He aggressively drew the eye and held it tight in his fist, forcing everyone who disapproved to notice him. They could do nothing to him here but watch, forced to confront their own desires.

He was a widely erratic flame, one that would gladly burn them all to embers of Will if they got to close. They both hated and loved him for who he was with no apologies, a Cloud who acted like no other Cloud they'd seen before and none were sure what to do with him. Skull soaked in it all, the hate and the lust, the want and the fire.

And Skull, dancing in the chaos, thrived with it all.

Fon was the first to fall of their set that night to Skull's charms. He floated out onto the dance floor, calm and self-assured in his welcome. When he reached Skull he waited for the other to notice him, unwilling to interrupt the Clouds focus. When Skull spotted him finally after a long moment where all he did was dance with himself, he laughed, a quicksilver grin flashing across his face, to pull Fon into the dance with him.

To the others watching, their set and the Mafia alike it looked like the two had been dancing together for years. Skull, it looked, had no issue with taking the traditional role of the woman in this dance, and they had an almost effortless way of following what the other would do because of it.

Both smooth and graceful as they twirled to the music and envious stares following them insidiously. It was a simple waltz they did together that night, but it showcased the care and friendship they both had with one another. Showed something between them as loose and free as the wind, playfully caressing the hair on someone's head but as raging and ragged as a hurricane, suppressed power ready, always ready, to be give the chance to hunt. With a shallow bow as the music came to a stop, Fon drifted off away from the crowds eyes and Skulls crackling energy. He'd be seen now and again ebbing on the fringe of the crowd, watching the others like a peacefully smiling guardian.

Verde, much to the outsiders confusion was the one to approach Skull next. He walked determinedly across the dance floor where Skull was trying to lure in Lal March through unsubtle kissy faces, and spun the man around by his waist. Giving Skull no other option then to dance with him or make a scene. At first, everyone could tell Skull hadn't been expecting to be forced along to a dance with Verde of all people, but a few moments in he relaxed consciously, forced a blinding grin ( through gritted teeth) and started to twist the scientist around.

Unlike with Fon this dance showed the discontent between the two dance partners, it showed Verde's determination to follow Skull' lead and Skull's equally determined desire to have nothing to do with him. It was a clash of Will, two very stubborn Flames clashing in the only way they could without giving the rest of the Mafia something to tear them apart with.

The dance lasted uncomfortably long for the rest of the world, neither man wanting to be the first to give in. But Verde, no matter his intelligence was nowhere near a match for a Clouds endurance. The Lightning started slowing down, stumbling over his own feet while the Cloud just spun them both faster and faster. When the Lightning finally couldn't take it anymore tripping and almost face planting into the ground, the Cloud giggled harshly, cruelly almost but tossed the poor, panting man to a seat, which he collapsed into.

Unfortunately for Lal March, she just so happened to be sitting right beside the chair Skull had chosen to drop Verde into. When Skull turned to look at her, impish smile and dazzling eyes zeroed in, Lal March scowled but followed him out anyways.

Their dance, if it could be called that, was a rigid step by step formal sway that didn't distract for the beautiful man in the wild dress, or the stunning woman in the dark tux. While the dance was as harsh as the Mafia as a whole knew Lal March to be it was filled with determination and fondness. When Skull dress away to swirl in a completely unplanned move Lal March allowed it, only drawing the man back in then there hands strained against each other. A fast paced, complex push and pull of fondness and discipline that none of the onlookers could understand why the Cloud allowed.

Right before the song Skull had chosen for the two of them to dance to ended, he suddenly took back control of the dance. It occurred to the crowd and even the woman herself, that Skull has always been in control of what they'd been doing, he'd only been allowed the other to lead. With one last spin, this time Lal March being the unwilling spin-ie, Skull dipped the woman and grinned at her cheekily.

Lal March blushing and trying hard not to grin pushed their Cloud away and stomped off the floor to go and sit harshly by a surprisingly laughing Verde. To no one's surprise she punched the laughing Lightning hard in the arm, shutting him up instantly.

Viper was Skulls next (un)willing victim. With a mad dash across the ballroom floor Skull dragged Viper up by their hands to pull out onto the dance floor. Once they were there he let go suddenly and turned away to grin cheekily at the disapproving crowd.

With a visible sigh Viper succumbed to their fate and followed helplessly after Skull. A little used talent of Mist Constructs was the ability to make props for dancing, not that any true self respecting Mist would do so. Skull knew of this hidden talent, of course, and had no trouble using Vipers powers for his own performance. Their dance together was light and fun, Skull leapt into nothing more times then the gathered crowd could count but always landed on some type of platform that Viper had made, the other part of his set chasing after him once they got into the motions.

Childishly in the middle of their dance, well after Viper had started to follow Skulls subtle cues he smacked a giant kiss right onto Viper hood. An audible gasp ran throughout the room. Skull, wild and as free as he'd ever looked, laughed at them all. At the end of their dance Skull collapsed and drug Viper down with him into a crushing hug while they sat on another of Vipers self made constructs and laughed with a joy not often seen in the Mafia. Even Viper huffed out a genuine laugh, because what did they have to fear? They were the Strongest Flame users in the world, nigh untouchable to everyone.

They were invincible.

"My I have this dance?"

Skull was grinning at a breathless Viper when those words registered in his head and a pale, strong looking hand lowered itself into his vision. Snapping his head up Skull followed the line of that hand up to nice forearms and broad shoulders, into smoking black eyes.

Skull, never one to pass up a challenge stared into those one-of-a-kind eyes and bared his teeth in a devious smile while his own hand climbed up slowly to grasp the other man's.

"How could I never deny you?"

With a push of his modestly high heel straight into Reborn's chest, Skull forced the Sun away from him. Reborn went with the motion, re-grabbing Skulls hand, which he had lost at the sudden movement from the Cloud, along the way to drag him up.

And finally Reborn.

 _Always, Reborn._

They dance and flirt and laugh over and over as they dance. Rising and falling, circling like the tides of the ocean they never tire of each other that night. There are no hidden threats or unspoken desires, just two people wholly invested into someone they just can't ever figure out.

 _You're dripping like a saturated sunrise  
You're spilling like an overflowing sink_

( ** _Present Day, Plane flying above the Russian wilderness_** **.)**

Behind trapped in a small, flying vehicle with five of the other most egotistical people on the plant wasn't easy. Being trapped in a small flying vehicle while you all travel to the site of some type of natural disaster that no one knows what happened but could _just_ _possibly_ be your run-away Cloud?

It brings bickering out that could strip flesh from bone it's so dry.

It's only the sound of 'Bombshell Blonde' by _Owl City_ that cuts through the rising tension like a peppy knife. Colonello's face instantly goes supernova pink as he turns and hurriedly pulls out a plain, black flip phone. Lal March, not even feet behind him, ready to defend against Reborn if things get truly out of hand, crosses her arms across her chest and looks to be trying _very_ _hard_ not punt him _out_ of the flying plane.

"Why do you have Owl City as your ringtone?" Verde asked incredulously.

Reborn, who had been standing beside him but is now hunched over, one hand on the back of a chair and convulsing in place doesn't even look up when the songs named. Viper glanced over in concealed concern, (not about Reborn, of course. But that's genuine leather and it didn't need whatever Reborn's doing to it.) but they rolled their eyes when it become clear he's only holding in his laughter enough it's physically trying to overpowering him. The idiot Sun.

"How do you know who Owl City is!? Huh?!" Colonello snarled back over his shoulder. He still hadn't turned around or stopped listening to whoever was on the phone.

Fon, always the peacemaker (or instigator, depending on where Reborn's positioned) steps between the three higher strung members of their makeshift family. Not that any one of them would ever admit to being that.

"Let's ignore Colonello's questionable taste in music for the moment, and instead focus on the much more important part of this interaction." With a sharp jerk of his head towards Colonello's phone, Fon's deceivingly placid tone told them all, in vivid detail, that they had _better_ start focusing on the important part before the Storm got any more _upset_ at the delays.

"Like who Colonello could possibly be talking to 57,000 feet up in the air." With a mou of displeasure Viper finished coldly for their other half. Verde took a halting step back, away from both the Mist and Storm. He knew with the way the Storm was starting to swirl slowly that the Mist would get swept up into the circulation if they didn't find _something_ about Skull _soon_. "And why he's not sharing."

As one they all looked sharply towards Colonello's hunched over position. Lal March being the closest took the initiative. With a kick to the back from her top-of-the-line combat boots Colonello went flying forward to splay awkwardly against the floor face first.

"Hey-!" Colonello started to yell right as the phone slipped out of his hand. With a truly impressive arch it headed straight for Reborn who snaked out a hand himself to grab it before anyone else could.

But in the grand scheme of things, no matter how much Reborn would deny it, Fon was the Greatest Martial Arts Master in the World. He was faster than everyone else on that plane easily. With speed they hadn't seen in years Fon snatched the phone out of the air before Reborn could do more then touch the top screen and definitely start another fight over who gets to hear what.

With an elegant twist backwards he landed gracefully by Viper who automatically punched him in the solar plex. With no time to react and clearly not expecting his lover to betray him, Fon went down heavy as a rock. Viper snatched up the phone and disappeared into their Mist seconds before Reborn's shiny, black shoes impacted where their head had been moments before, leaving a heavy, smoldering shoe print in the wall of the plane when he refused to stop his momentum in protest of Viper dodging him.

With a heighty glare around the seemingly empty air Reborn sneered out to Viper, who they all knew was still on the plane, "I'd be thrilled to hear your reasoning in not letting me have the phone the moment you received it." Reborn prowled around the cabin, dark eyes watching to catch any slight movement, " And _why_ I shouldn't shoot you for it."

A scoff from above all of their heads, "You no longer get to have anything to do with the planning on how we find Skull." A gunshot, two robots (when did Verde have time...?) and a flying fist hit where Vipers voice had just appeared from. They didn't connect with anything, of course. Viper wasn't the Strongest Mist in the World for _nothing_ either.

" _What_."

"Every time Reborn, and I do mean _every time_ , you try to confront Skull, something even worse happens. I refuse to let you ruin this for the rest of us." The dry, slightly apathetic voice changes, becomes biting, "I will not be losing my Cloud due to your inability to face reality. Not again."

With a groan, Colonello who had been sitting behind where all the others gathered still on the floor cross legged, looked up into the empty air and said, "You really shouldn't have said that. Why did you say that?" seconds before a Sun enhanced bullet was shot towards where Vipers voice had originated from, a giant screech of metal on metal was heard moments after the bullet impacted the side. With barely a minute of them all standing, silently staring at the small hole Reborn had made out of his recently in-character recklessness, a massive piece of the hule of the plane blew out. The force of the pressurised air escaping ends up taking multiple seats and the entire side of the plane, with it.

Viper materialized by the others as Colonello stood up with with a strained grin. Multiple different colored lights started flashing, little airbags fell from the roof of the planes interior and a sweet, uplifting woman's voice came over the speakers to tell them all cheerfully that they were going to crash, and if they could please return to their seats and buckle in. Fon turned to look directly at Reborn as the plane started to dip down, he doesn't need to say anything as Lal March says it for him and everyone else.

Lal March squeezes the bridge of her nose as they watch the way the ground, covered in trees, get closer towards them. " _This_. _This_ is why you shouldn't be allowed to talk to Skull while we convince him to come home. The entirety of all of _this_."

Reborn doesn't say as word, which is damning in itself, just tilts his fedora down over his eyes as they all jump from the plane as the ground rushes up to meet them.

They never even got to hear who was on the phone.

 _Goddamnit, Reborn!_

—

 _You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece  
And now I'm tearing through the pages and the ink_


End file.
